


The Time Traveler's Daughter

by JaeJaeBees



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-02 19:05:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 95,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2822837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaeJaeBees/pseuds/JaeJaeBees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica Tyler, also known as Jess Harkness. With a confusing past and a bag holding infinite secrets, she holds the fate of the universes in her hands. The Master, insane and dangerous in any universe, and willing to destroy all the universes to get what he wants. The Doctor, regenerated into his 11th form, traveling with the Ponds. <br/>As Jess's universe collapses, her mum, Rose, and the Duplicate Doctor, use the last of their power to send her through into the other universe with one mission. Find the Doctor. With the help of some old friends of her mum's, she finds the Doctor and joins the TARDIS crew, if only because the Doctor finds her interesting. With the hope of keeping her lineage secret from the Doctor, and warning him that the Master is coming, their adventures begin. Jess finds herself growing closer to the Doctor, and starts to think that maybe he feels the same. But the secrets she still hides from him could either  destroy him or save him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place after Amy and Rory's wedding. River doesn't play a part in this fic, and any events that dealt with her in cannon that may be mentioned in the fic are based on River simply being another Rogue Time Agent like Jack, but that hopefully won't come up too much.   
> Some chapters may contain mature content or sexual themes, and will be marked at the beginning as such.   
> Some character death, and mentions of torture and kidnapping.  
> This is going to be an extremely long fic. Very very very long fic. Some chapters will be longer than others.   
> I'll try to update as often as possible

Dark purple streaks painted through the blue sky, fading into a scarlet red. The orb of the sun faded beneath the horizon of the Cardiff sky. People went about their daily lives, doing a bit of late evening shopping. A chill breeze swept through the almost silent streets.   
A single man broke the comfort and ease of the evening. A handsome man, seemingly in his early thirties, dashed through the streets, long coat waving in the wind behind him and a gun attached to his waist. In his hands, he held some kind of a device, what could have been a tablet but seemed a little too steam punk. As the man ran, he looked down at this screen and it's unusual readings.   
The readings fluctuated and the man halted, glancing around before dashing through a deserted ally way. He skidded around the corner, down the next street, chasing whatever it was his device was picking up. Then the screen went blank, all the readings faded. The man stopped, almost tripping over himself. He jabbed at the screen, flipped the device over and toggled all the switches. Nothing.   
Static pierced through his earpiece, and then a female's voice. “Jack? Jack what's going on out there?”  
The man, Jack, pressed the button on his earpiece. “I don't know. The scanner just stopped working. What are the readings on your end?”  
“Everything just....stopped.” The woman spoke again, through static.   
“What do you mean stopped?” Jack spoke, accent obviously American. When a response didn't come fast enough, he groaned. “Martha! What do you mean stopped!”  
Static, and another click. “It just...it stopped, Jack. All the scanners, the computers, even the lights. It all just....shut off.”  
“That's impossible.” Jack rolled his eyes. “The back up generators would kick in.”  
“Well, they haven't.” Martha responded, sass in her voice.  
Jack groaned. “I was chasing the energy spike through the city, my scanner just went off.”  
“Like the systems here, yeah?” Martha responded.   
Jack cursed, kicking the nearest wall. “Alright. I'm not going to be any good out here. I'll come back to Torchwood and we'll get the power back up and try again.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A long way away, universes away, a young woman stood with her mother and a man. In the heart of a star, planets away from home. Tears welled up in her eyes.  
“But Mum.” Her voice broke. “I don't want to go...”  
Gentle hands cupped her cheeks. “Oh, darling. My darling daughter. You must. You've got to warn them. We can't save this world, but the fate of his rests in you.” Her mother was crying.   
The girl smiled softly, taking her mother's hands in her own. “But what about you? And Him?” She motioned to the man, flipping switches at the dashboard. The engines whined, strained.   
“We have each other. That was more than enough.” Her mother told her. “Don't worry about us, Jess. Just do...do one thing, alright? When you get there.”  
“Anything, Mum.” the tears fell down her cheeks in silent trails.   
Her mother looked to the man she loved, then back to her daughter. “You find the Doctor.” Her voice broke with a sob. “You find him and you stay with him, alright? No matter what, even if he's different. You listen to the Doctor and you stay with him. Promise me, you'll stay with him.”  
“I promise, Mum.” She took her mother into her arms, hugging her tightly. “I promise.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack slammed the lever down, the loud ringing resounding through the base. The lights flickered and he ran to another machine and flipped some dials on that.   
“Micky, what's it reading now?” He called out.  
Micky typed away furiously at his computer. “We're getting alpha waves and Beta radiation flooding the rift, Jack.”  
“Jack!” Martha interrupted, slamming through the door. “Jack, you've got to come with me! You've got to see this!”   
“Not right now, Martha!” Jack continuously flitted across the room, moving levers and hitting switches and changing dials on screens.   
“Jack, the Rift!” Martha almost screamed at him, over the sounds of the sirens.  
Jack finally looked up at her. “Fine, I'm coming.”   
He turned to look at Gwen, ordering her to take over and help out Mickey. He followed Martha out of the building, chasing her down the street.  
“Where are we going?” he yelled at her as they ran.  
She glanced over at him. “It's just around the corner, hurry!”   
They skidded around a building and stumbled to a halt, right in front of the anomaly. Jack's eyes widened, excitement on his face as he saw.   
“What is it, Jack?” there was fear in Martha's voice.   
Jack took her hand and pulled her close to him, staring at the road in front of them. “I don't know.”  
A ripple in space, hanging in mid-air, like the surface of a lake making waves in the atmosphere.  
“It looks....like a door.” Martha stepped closer, looking at it closer.   
Her phone rang suddenly and she answered. “Mickey, what's going on?”  
“Energy spikes.” His voice was loud over the sound of sirens in the background, more than before. The breaking of open electric wires. “They're coming from all over, converging on the rift. Where are you?”  
Martha looked around, “Just around the corner, near Brookstones Market and the 7/11.”  
“Martha.” Mickey's voice turned serious. “That's the converging point.”  
“What does that mean, Mickey?” Jack grabbed the phone from her, holding it to his own ear. “What's converging?”  
“Jack, something's coming through. And it's going to land right where you are.” The phone went dead, nothing but static.   
Jack handed it back to Martha, who pocketed it. Her grip tightened on Jack's hand and they stood, Jack's hand on his gun. Martha's tightened into a fist.   
The ground shook beneath their feet and the anomaly swam before them, then something like a shock blasted through it, a great yellow light, shining like the brightness of a million suns, and the sound of the universe. Then it was gone.  
Jack and Martha opened their eyes, moving their hands from their faces, lifted to block the light. The simmer in the surface of reality had disappeared, leaving in it's place a girl. Blonde, seemingly human, deep blue eyes. Unnervingly pretty. She wore a tattered white dress and the remnants of a brown coat, burned to around her knees, one sleeve missing, a little too large. Hair a bit of a mess, covered in ash. The light seemed to rise off her like steam, leaving her.  
“Who are you?” Martha asked, voice cautious.   
The girl looked at the two of them. She looked around, at her hands, at her feet, at the world surrounding them. Then at Jack Harkness.   
“Hello, Dad.” She smiled.   
Martha and Jack shared a look, and then back to the girl.   
“Excuse me?” Martha spoke. “Dad? How is Jack your dad?”  
The girl smiled, an odd sort of smile. Like she knew too much, Jack thought. But his daughter?  
He glanced at Martha. “Well, it's not that hard of a leap to make.”  
Martha shot Jack a look. “You actually mean you've got a daughter?”  
“Probably have a dozen kids out there I don't know about.” He said, almost joking.   
Martha shot him a glare and then looked at the girl. “Alright, what's your name, then?”  
“Jess.” The girl spoke. “And I have to find the Doctor.”


	2. Chapter Two

Jess sat inside the Torchwood institute. She'd been given a shower and a change of clothes. Her tattered outfit sitting at her feet in a bag. She was alone, in an interrogation room. She was annoyed.   
Jack walked in, looking at her with a blank expression.   
“Can I go?” She asked. “I really don't have time for this. I have to find the Doctor.”  
“And why's that?” Jack asked. She had been brought to Torchwood straight away when she'd mentioned the Doctor, calling herself Jack's daughter or not. She'd refused to speak until she'd gotten a shower. It had been a long time since she'd had a descent shower. Too much war, not enough time.   
She looked at Jack, a practiced expression of stone on her face. “Why should I tell you what I need him for?”  
Jack leaned against the doorway, giving her a smirk. “Alright then, let's start with something more basic, then. Your name is Jess. Our scans have shown that your human, mostly.”  
Jess remained silent.   
“Where are you from?”  
“A long way away.”  
“How did you get here?”  
“Through a door.”  
“A door, in the rift?” Jack walked to the table, spinning the chair around and sitting in it backwards.   
Jess raised an eyebrow. “Mum said you liked to do that.”  
“And who is your mom?” Jack asked. “If I'm your dad, who's your mom?”  
Jess laughed, a soft, bitter sound. “Wouldn't you like to know.”  
“Yeah.” Jack responded. “That's why I asked.”  
“Oh, sass.” Jess wrinkled her nose up, leaning forward in the chair. “I like that. The other you wasn't like that.”  
“Other me?” This seemed to spark Jack's attention. “What other me?”  
“Isn't important.” Jess responded. “All that you need to know is that I need to find the Doctor. The fate of the universe depends on it.”  
Jack leaned back. “That sounds serious. But I need more details.”  
“I don't trust you.” Jess responded. “He told me not to trust anyone. Not until I had the Doctor by my side.”  
“What can I do to make you trust me?” Jack asked.   
Jess paused at this, thinking. Mulling things over in her mind as quickly as she could. So much information stored in her brain, ever since the accident with the Library, she knew so much. She thought, and then she decided.   
“All I'm going to tell you is this. I'm from a different universe, and there's something in my universe that's trying to get into this one. I have to warn the Doctor, because he's the only one who can stop this.” Jess looked back, her expression dark.   
Jack responded. “And I need a reason to trust you, too. How do I know you're not some alien trying to trap the Doctor.”  
Jess leant down, reaching into her bag and pulled out the tattered brown coat. She stood, looming over Jack and dropped the coat onto the table. “Here's your trust, Dad.” She said, amusement and anger in her voice. “My name is Jessica Rose Tyler.”  
Jack's eyes widened and he looked up at the girl, shock on his face. “No...no that's impossible.”  
“Look at this coat.” She told him. “Doesn't it look familiar?”  
Jack took the tattered cloth into his hands. “This...this belongs to the Doctor...omigod...this is impossible.”  
“Why?” Jess sneered, dropping back into her seat and snatching the coat away. The pockets were filled with what few important things she'd needed. Didn't want to lose that. “Because your Doctor told you it was. News flash for you, Dad. The Doctor lies.”  
Jack kept silent for a while, then he nodded. “Alright then. Come on. Let me introduce you to the others and we'll figure out how to get the Doctor here...but don't call me dad...it's a little creepy.”  
Jess finally smiled, a real smile, but then it faded. “But you are my dad.”  
“You're going to have to explain that one.” Jack responded, allowed Jess to grab her bag and follow him out of the intterogation rooms and back into the main room of Torchwood.   
Micky and Martha looked up when they walked in. Another man stood in the corner, glancing at Jack and Jess awkwardly. Jess noticed this didn't go unnoticed by Jack either.   
“Everyone, I'd like you to meet Jess. She has an interesting story to tell us.” He stepped away from her, looking at the man in the corner. “Ianto, could you bring us some tea and coffee. We might need it for this.”  
The man nodded and in a few awkward minutes of everyone staring at Jess, he had returned with tea.   
“I'd like you to all keep your questions to the end.” Jess spoke up, taking a sip of the tea. Proper tea like she hadn't had in months.   
“First, I should introduce you.” Jack started.  
Jess held up her hand. “No need. Martha Jones and Micky Smith.” She pointed to each of them in turn. “Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones.”   
“How do you know us?” Micky asked, a little unnerved.   
Jess chuckled. “I said questions at the end...but. It seems the only way I'll be able to find the Doctor, is if I tell you lot the truth. But first, I've got to make you all swear, on the Doctor's life, swear to me that you will not tell him the truth.”  
“Why not?” Martha asked. “I'm not going to lie to the Doctor without a good reason.”  
Jess stood, paced, looked Martha right in the face with a piercing stare, one so familiar to her, just like the Doctor when he was troubled. Her voice low and serious. “Because if he knew the truth....it would break his hearts.” She kept Martha's eyes locked in her own for the longest moment after that and then jumped up, grinning. “And I've got orders from the Doctor himself that I'm not supposed to let him know the truth. So promise. Promise that you will not tell him.”  
Jess spun around and looked at everyone. She waited until one by one the people in the room gave their word this story would never leave. Then she sat, and she closed her eyes. And she began.  
“My name is Jessica Rose Tyler. I am the daughter of Rose Marion Tyler and Jack Harkness. Born on the date April eighteenth in the year 2012 in an alternate universe, parallel to this one. Questions now.” She paused, opening her eyes. “Relevant only to the information shared so far.”  
All was silent, shocked, but then Martha raised his hand. “You...you traveled back in time when you came through to this world.” Martha spoke nervously.  
“Did I?” Jess asked, tilting her head. “How do you know?”  
Jack responded. “Because today is April 18th, 2012.”  
Jess blinked, surprised. “Well, He did say that might happen.”  
“He?” Martha spoke up again.  
“The Doctor.” Jess responded. “The other Doctor, the one from my universe.”  
Ianto spoke up from the back, interrupting the conversation. “Sorry..” He stuttered, voice growing more steady as he spoke on. “I...I don't much know Rose, your...your mum...or the Doctor...but I do know...they..” He paused, shook his head and tried again. “I want to know...how did Jack become your dad? Wasn't Rose with the Doctor?”  
Martha and Micky both nodded, looking to Jess.   
“I want to know too.” Martha spoke. “Because the Doctor and Rose loved each other. So so much. So why Jack?”  
Jess's eyes darkened. “There was a time when The Doctor left mum. He regrew the TARDIS, from a shard that the Doctor in this universe gave him. He took it on a trip to test the engines. He was gone five minutes. Well, for him it was five minutes.” She laughed bitterly. “For mum, it was five years.”  
Silence fell among them, and Jack figured it out. He looked up at Jess. “So, Rose thought the Doctor had abandoned her, and then what? She met me? The me from that universe? And what? Like..we fell in love?”  
Jess laughed. “No, not exactly. You were right, kind of. She had almost given up hope of him coming back, and she met you. Time travelling conman in any universe.” She laughed at this. “I never met the you in that universe. It was a one night stand, you see. You had no clue who she was, but she saw a familiar face and a lot of alcohol later, well....you don't say no to anyone, do you?”  
Jack tugged at his shirt collar, glancing over at Ianto to see hurt on the man's face. He cleared his throat. “I'm different now. It...It's not like that anymore.”  
Jess shrugged. “Either way, when the Doctor reappeared, he found Rose. Six months gone with me. It took them a while, but he understood. And they forgave each other. And then He came.” Darkness shrouded her mind once more, hardening her eyes. “We found him through thousands of years, and he always came for us. Through all of time and space. He destroyed a universe just to kill The Doctor.”  
“Destroyed the universe?” Micky spoke up, sounding nervous. “What does that mean? Does that mean...is Rose...is she....dead?”  
Jess sat her teacup down, staring into it. “Everyone is dead. The entire universe imploded on itself and I was the only survivor. The Doctor and Mum sent me back through into this universe to find the Doctor and warn him. To warn him that He's coming. Through every universe, through all of time and all of space, he's coming for him and he won't stop until the Doctor's dead.” Tears poured from her face, blue eyes flecked with golden light, and then it faded. “The Master is coming.”


	3. Chapter Three

Martha paced the floor, her phone stuck to her ear. It went to voicemail and she hung up, redialing the number. “He's not picking up.” She groaned. “He never picks up.”  
Jess sat, holding onto her back with the old coat in it. She looked around. Everyone had taken in her story, every detail. Hours of explaining and thinking and brainstorming and in the end a plan was formed, but they just had to find the Doctor.   
Jess looked up. “Does it text?”  
Martha turned to Jess and grinned. “Oh, you're brilliant, you are.”  
She typed out a message, hitting send. “I'm going to tell him we've got an emergency and we need his help.”  
Jess looked up, biting his lip. “Tell him....tell him the Master survived. He'll come for that. No matter what, he'll come for that.”  
Martha nodded, sending the second message. No longer than she'd hit the send button, did they hear the sound. The whirring of the TARDIS in the distance. Jess smiled. Martha looked like she was about to cry. No one moved, and ten minutes later there was a knock on the door.   
Ianto left the main room. Everyone shared glances. He returned with a girl, only a few years older than Jess, dark red hair and a short jean miniskirt. She had her arms crossed over her chest and a look of determination on her face.   
Jack stood, adopting a military resting position. “Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood. Who are you.”  
The woman spoke in the same tone as Jack, confident. “Amelia Pond, Representative of The Doctor.”   
Jack smirked. “Scottish. I like.”  
Amy didn't seem perturbed, she held up her hand, displaying a ring. “Married, don't bother. The Doctor warned me about you.”  
Jack looked offended. “I am not flirting. Why does everyone always think I'm flirting.”  
“Because you're a flirt.” Ianto responded, softly. And shared a smirk with Jack.   
Jess ignored them and looked to this new girl, this Amy. “Why didn't the Doctor come himself?”  
Amy looked at Jess, for the first time seeming a bit confused. “He's busy.”  
“Busy?” Jess rose an eyebrow.   
Amy sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Something happened to the TARDIS on the way in. He landed it upside down and he can't seem to right it. He's working on it, so he sent me to see what was going on in his place. He said he got a message about someone called The Master?”  
Jess nodded, the others letting her have the chance to speak. It was her place, after all. Her mission. “I need to speak to the Doctor.”  
“Well, he sent me, so you'll have to talk to me.” Amy responded.   
Jess sighed. “I'm from a different world and a different time. The Doctor is in danger, and I have to warn him.”  
This seemed to bother Amy. She looked around at all of them. Jack spoke up.   
“The Doctor trusts me.” He said. “He trusts all of us. Please, Amy. The Doctor is in danger, and Jess can help.”  
Amy turned towards Jess. “Jess? Jess who? The Doctor told me of everyone in this room, but he never mentioned you.”  
Jess bit her lip. “Well, he hasn't met me yet.” She held out her hand to Amy. “Jess...Jess Harkness.”  
Amy looked up at Jack and he grinned. “She's my daughter.”  
Amy nodded. “Alright. I'll take you to see the Doctor, but he'll be the one to decide if you stay tonight.”  
Jess nodded and grabbed her bag. She said her goodbyes to the others.   
“Jess, before you leave. I think you'll be needing this.” Martha took Jess's hand, placing her cellphone in it.   
“Your phone?”  
“Reaches anywhere in time and space.” Martha laughed. “I figure where you're going, you'll need it. I can always get another phone. Everyone's numbers are programed in. Call us if you need us.”  
Jess smiled. “I've known you guys all of four hours and you already feel like family.”  
Jack laughed, hugging her. “Four hours, but that's more than enough time. Call your old dad, anytime you want.”  
Jess laughed. “Yeah, alright.”  
With their goodbyes, Jess followed Amy out of Torchwood. Their journey was silent, almost awkward. Jess spoke first.   
“So...you travel with the Doctor?” She glanced at Amy.   
“Yes.”   
“And you're...married?” She pressed.   
Amy almost snorted. “Not to the Doctor, no. No...my husband. Rory. He's on the TARDIS trying to help fix it.”  
Jess laughed. “Oh, I thought not. From what I know of the Doctor, he's not the type to get married.”  
Amy sighed, softly. “Not really no...but how do you know that?”  
Jess laughed. “I know a lot of things, actually. All up in my head. Had an accident, but it's alright.”  
Amy nodded. “So this...this Master, who is he? When I read the text to The Doctor, he looked like I'd told him the end of the world was coming.”  
“It might just be.” Jess responded seriously. “The Master is a Time Lord, like the Doctor. Only, he's evil. I'll explain the rest when I talk with the Doctor, don't want to have to repeat myself.”  
Amy nodded.   
Jess spoke again as they rounded a corner. “What's he like, The Doctor? His personality. Cause I've never met him, only heard stories.”  
Amy laughed. “Oh he's a laugh, alright. A child stuck in an adults body, rather attractive body if you can keep the fez off him.” Jess laughed, trying to picture the Doctor she knew wearing a fez. “He's kind, and childish, and brilliant, and strange, and wonderful.”  
Jess smiled, sadly as they arrived finally upon the scene. What she saw made her laugh. The TARDIS, tilted on his top, leaning against a brick building. She looked to Amy, who seemed to find it funny as well and laughed with her.   
“Watch your step.” Amy told her. “When you climb in, the TARDIS's gravity field with turn you right.”  
Jess nodded, alright climbing up into the TARDIS. She pulled herself through the door and dropped down onto the ground, shaking the disorienting feeling from her head. Amy landed with a thump beside her, pulling herself standing.   
A man leaned against the railing of the TARDIS, looking below. He grinned when Amy stepped in, but looked at Jess in confusion. “Who is she?”  
“Who is who?” another voice came from below, from beneath the glass floor. Jess noticed then. The TARDIS was different, looked much different than she'd ever known it to look.   
“There's a girl with Amy.” Rory, or Jess assumed with was Rory, called over the edge of the floor, Probably the Doctor.   
“Ah well, hand me the Catalytic Flurosander.” The Doctor called up.  
Rory looked at the tools laid about, confusion on his face. Jess wanted to laugh. This was not how she had thought meeting the Doctor would be. She walked up and grabbed the tool, a sort of alien belt sander. She placed it in the hand that had appeared over the side of.   
“Here you are.” She spoke, amusement in her voice.   
A few moment later, a man jumped halfway up the stairs and peeked over the edge of the railing. His eyes trained on Jess, interest and confusion in his eyes. Jess had not expected the face she saw. Dark green eyes stared at her under a long mop of brown hair, a handsome face with a strong jawline, a bow tie and a silly grin.   
“You know what a catalytic flurosander is.” He said.  
Jess grinned, kneeling down to his height. “You need to reroute the navopropulsion system through the mobility drive and reboot the secondary binary engines.”  
“How do you know that?” The Doctor's voice darkened. “Who are you.”  
Jess held out her hand. “Jessica Harkness, you can call me Jess.”


	4. Chapter Four

The Doctor had done what she'd said, set the TARDIS upright, and now stood, staring at her with a dark expression. She could hear her heartbeat thumping in her chest, wondered if he could hear it too.   
“You know how to fix a TARDIS. How?” He asked her, standing before her, arms crossed over her chest.   
She responded, right away, honestly. The TARDIS would tell him if she lied. “An accident, when I was sixteen. I got stuck in a computer program, long story, but while I was uploaded, I ended up in a library. Every book in the universe. A hundred years passed for me in the system, but only a few weeks in the real world. I read every book in the library, and when I was saved I just sort of....remembered it all.”  
The Doctor seemed to think on this for a moment. “Well, that is possible, though highly unlikely. “Harkness? You're Jack's daughter, I didn't know Jack had a daughter.”  
“Neither did he.” Jess responded. “Until I came to him for help.”  
“Help, yes right. Help with what exactly?”  
Jess licked her lips. “My world was destroyed. My mum, my family. Everything gone, destroyed by a man called the Master.”  
“The Master is dead.” The Doctor nearly spat the words.   
“The Master has torn apart entire universes looking for you, Doctor. He destroyed my home and he won't stop until you're dead.” Jess countered.  
The Doctor stopped, and then looked at Jess. “And I supposed you want to come in the TARDIS with me, and get revenge on him for your mum?” His eyes peirced her, accusing her.   
She shook her head. “I don't want revenge. I want you safe.”  
This shocked not only the Doctor, but Amy and Rory as well.   
“Why?” Amy spoke. “You've never met him before, you said so yourself, so why do you want him alive?”  
Jess looked between all of them, then back at the Doctor. “Because the world needs the Doctor. No one knows that more than me. I've read every book, every piece of information, every testament, every journal, every diary with the Doctor's name.”  
“So you think you know me?” He asked.  
“Oh, not at all Doctor.” She grinned, challenging him.   
He looked at her, seriously. “Very interesting. Tell me, Jess. Why should I let you stay?”  
“Because.” Jess responded, stepping closer to the Doctor, almost invading his space so that she could speak low, allowing only him to hear. “You already know you're going to let me. You can't resist can you? I'm interesting. And that's your weakness.”  
The Doctor looked at her, his eyes searching her face, expression surprised, until he stepped back and grinned. “And I thought you said you didn't know me.”  
Jess matched his look. “Oh come now, Doctor.”   
He paused, looked at her, then turned to the controls of the TARDIS. He started flipping switches and turning dials and Jess knew she had won. She hugged her bag to her chest.   
“Find yourself a bedroom, then. Anyone without a name already written on it will do. Amy and Rory can show you around, if you like.” He turned to her and gave her a serious expression. “But only for a while. Don't think you'll stay with me forever.”  
“Of course not.” Jess responded cooly, though her heart skipped a beat. Forever? Had she ever thought she would stay with the Doctor forever?  
She slipped around him, walking away from the Doctor. Amy and Rory followed, probably because the Doctor told them to. Jess turned to Rory once they passed into the hallway.   
“It's nice to meet you, Rory.” She mentioned, “And you, Amy. I really hope you two don't think I'm intruding.”  
Rory glanced at Amy, then Jess. “Not at all. The Doctor wouldn't bring you here if it wasn't important.”  
“You've got nowhere else to go, do you?” Amy asked after a while.   
Jess didn't look at her. “How did you guess.” She didn't mean to sound rude.”  
“You said your whole world was gone. Your mum, everything. I'm sorry.”  
Jess shrugged. “In this time, it hasn't happened yet. But for me, it was only...it was only five hours ago.”  
“Wait, it hasn't happened yet? It's still in the future? We could stop it! The Doctor can go and -”  
“No. He can't.” Jess turned a corner, her feet carrying her on their own. “It's a set point in time. What happened can never be changed.”  
“I'm sorry.” Amy spoke again.   
Jess glanced at her and gave her a smile. “It's alright. This is my life, it's always been like this. Traveling with the Doctor. It won't be that different.”  
“Let's find you a bedroom, yeah?” Rory changed the subject, pointing down the hall. “We've reached the bedroom wing.  
Jess nodded, looking around. The doors stood in neat rows, some with names and some without. Jess recognized every name. She glanced inside all the empty bedrooms and she stopped when she came across one name. An old door, the silver name scratched and faded while all the other doors seemed to be neat and new. Her mum's old room.   
The smallest of pauses, and she walked on. It took her a while, as she chatted with Amy and Rory to find the right bedroom. A dent in the door, the only dent in a door in the entire wing. The door slid open and Jess grinned.  
“Oh yes, this one is perfect.” she clapped and stepped into the room.   
Amy smiled, taking Rory's hand. “Make yourself comfortable, then. Come back out to the control room when you're ready to leave.”  
Jess let them leave, shutting the door and locking herself in. The room was large, comfortable. Purple walls and soft lighting. Oak furniture, victorian style. Fourposter bed and a large mirror and a bookshelf filled with books she'd already read. The same room she had in the other TARDIS in the other world. She took her clothes from the bag, reaching into the pocket of the coat.   
She pulled a small bag from the pocket, a small brown drawstring bag. She sat this to the side and took the coat, tattered and torn and detroyed by war. Her last gift from the man who raised her. Her mother's husband. The other Doctor. Carefully, tenderly, she folded it and placed it in the bottom drawer of her nightstand.   
The bag, the drawstring, she opened it and reached inside. Her arm reached in to the elbow and she fished around, finding a few things. A watch, she pulled out and put on. A blue screen, she tapped a few buttons and it shifted, turning into a simple gold band around her wrist. She smiled, but the TARDIS hummed. It sensed the technology.   
Jess looked up at the TARDIS's ceiling and gave a small whispered, a plea. “Don't tell him.” She asked the TARDIS. “I know that you already know who I am and where I'm from, but please. Don't tell him.”  
The TARDIS hummed again and Jess smiled. “Thank you.”  
She pulled something else from the bag before sitting it on the nightstand once more. Perfume. She had showered, but the soap gave her a bitter smell. She spritzed herself and turned to one of the two other doors. One led to a bathroom, but the other led into the wardrobe.   
She wandered around for a while until she found some clothes that she liked. A red teeshirt and a pair of comfortable jeans and a leather jacket. She took these back to her room and changed into them, getting out of the over sized Torchwood gear she'd been given. She checked herself in the mirror, grabbed a brush from her bag and brushed out her hair, pulling it into a ponytail.   
When she felt that she was descent, even pulling a bit of makeup from her bag and putting it on. She would have to get some new makeup, her eyeliner was almost dry and almost everything was burned. Still, she could make it work. And when she was done, she walked back out to the control room.   
The Doctor was still flitting around the console, while Amy and Rory talked with him. When she walked back in, all eyes landed on her.   
“We've all decided.” Amy spoke with a grin. “Since it's your first time in the TARDIS....”  
The Doctor interrupted, stepping forward. “You've read all about this ship. You know what it can do. All of time and space, anywhere in the universe. So....where would you like to go?”  
Jess grinned. It wasn't the first, but somehow it was. The excitement roared through her, and she knew. Before she even thought about it. She knew where she wanted to go. The one place in the universe, her universe, that she never had been allowed to go, had always said it was too dangerous – and she'd single-handedly overthrown the Preuth Empire, been kidnapped by the Master, and downloaded her consciousness into a library.   
“I want to go....to the largest amusement park in all of space and time.” She grinned wide as she said it, her eyes on the Doctor.  
The Doctor grinned, wild and happy. “Well, if it's the largest you want, then here we go!” He spun around and slammed down a lever, launching the TARDIS into the vortex with a great lurch, the familiar sound of it's engines hissing around them. The sound of the universe. The only sound Jess ever needed to hear.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Road So Far:  
> Jess Tyler, the daughter of Rose Tyler and a one night stand with a parallel Jack Harkness, has made her way through the barriers of the universes just as her own universe has collapsed. With the help of this universe's Jack Harkness and the Torchwood team, she found the Doctor in his 11th regeneration, traveling with Amy and Rory. Hiding her true identity, she boards the TARDIS, going on her first adventure with this new Doctor. 
> 
> The first long Chapter: Jess, The Doctor, Amy, and Rory make thier way to Disney Planet (unnamed in the fic) which is the largest amusement park in all of space and time. Amy and Rory go off on their own, leaving Jess and the Doctor to do what they do best. Get in trouble.

Amy demanded that she be allowed to change before stepping out of the TARDIS. No way was she going to an amusement park in a skirt. The Doctor had tried to tell her that she was fine, that no one would look up her skirt. She'd slapped him and Jess had nearly fallen on the floor laughing, then they left.  
Jess stepped out of the TARDIS, followed by The Doctor, Amy and Rory in tow. The had landed in an ally, placed neatly between a set of bins. The crowd gathered just feet away, unaware of the TARDIS's arrival. Behind the mass of people and aliens alike, great large rides hung over the horizon. Rollercoasters, game booths, ferris wheels, shops, food stalls. She grinned, the Doctor looking at her expectantly.   
“Oh, this is brilliant!” Jess's grin spread from ear to ear. The Doctor matched her smile and took her hand. “An entire planet turned into an amusement park, oh we could be here for days riding everything!”  
“Days?” The Doctor gave a mock offended grin. “We could be here months if you wanted to ride everything.”  
“We're not staying in an amusement park for months.” Amy protested.   
“Why not?” The Doctor spun to her. “They've got hotels, restaurants, shops. Everything you need to live here.”  
“We're not living in an amusement park.” Amy repeated. Jess found herself stepping behind the Doctor.   
He sighed, running a hand through his hair and fixing it into messy style. “Alright, fine. Fine, we won't stay for a month.” He glanced at a watch, not his watch. He grabbed Rory's hand and looked at the watch on his wrist. Jess found herself hiding her own, though her watch looked like a bracelet and not a watch at the moment. “We'll meet back here in ten hours, that should be enough time to have some fun. Come now, on we go!”  
“Wait...meet back here?” Rory asked, following the group into the ground.   
“In case we split up, yeah?” Jess glanced back at him.   
“Oh, she catches on fast.” The Doctor grinned, almost dancing on his feet. “I like her.”  
Jess grinned at the praise, and they started walking. Their first few hours spent going on some rides. The Doctor used his psychic paper to get them all unlimited access passes. They tried foods they'd never tasted before and rode strange rides they'd never heard of before.   
The Doctor had even played one of the silly little games, tossing a little ball through teleportals to try and get in the hole. He did, of course, figuring out the pattern in which the portals opened and closed to get the ball through the right ones in the right order.  
“For you.” He spoke awkwardly, but happily, a smile ringing in his eyes. “To commemorate your first day on the TARDIS.”  
Excitement danced around him as she took the stuffed rabbit he held out to her. She grinned, holding it to her chest.   
“Why thank you, Doctor.” She grinned, meeting his eyes. She held his glance for a moment, and suddenly felt the need to tell him, the desire to tell him the truth.   
“Doctor.” Amy broke their glance, both of them looking at her. She was grinning, looking at a certain ride. A space version of the Tunnel of Love ride. “I'm taking Rory on that.”  
The Doctor nodded, “Oh, I'm not going on that!”  
Amy laughed. “I don't mean you to come.” She took Rory's arm. “You and Jess have fun, yeah. I'm going to spend some alone time with my husband.”  
Rory made to protest, but just let Amy pull him away, leaving Jess and the Doctor alone.   
The Doctor turned to Jess, grinning. “Alright. You and me, all of the planet...Where do we start?”  
A devilish grin spread across Jess's face. She took the ears of her stuffed rabbit and tied it to her back, keeping it out of the way.   
“Let's go do what I do best then, yeah?” she suggested.   
The Doctor gave an intrigued smile. “And what's that then?”  
“Get in trouble.” Her eyebrows rose with invitation, her hand holding out to him.  
He glanced at her, from her hand to her face, almost unsure. She knew he still didn't trust her.   
“Come on Doctor.” She urged him, smirk playing at her lips. “You saw it, I know you did.”  
A gleam of darkness shimmered in his eyes. “Oh, yes, I saw it. The question is....how did you?”  
She grinned, and he placed his hand in hers. She pulled him through the street, and they started simply walking, passing booths and glancing around as they walked. Almost silence.   
“Right there, in the corner of your eye.” The Doctor whispered into her ear. “You don't want to see it, but you do.”  
“The whispers.” She responded, “The shifty looks. They're hiding something. The ones working on this planet, they're hiding something, and they're scared of it.”  
“You are a clever one.” The Doctor grinned, stepping into a shop. A small shop, filled with trinkets. Jewelry. “Act natural.” he had whispered to her as they slipped through the door.   
A woman walked around the corner as the bell jingled, the owner of the shop. A blue alien with a slender body and slug-like stalks for eyes. She smiled. “Greetings. Welcome to my shop, can I interest you in a pretty ring for you girlfriend?” She alien immediately tried to sell something, motioning to a table filled with jewelry. “Or a pretty pair of earrings?” She held out a pair, gold dangly things whimmering with stardust. “Straight from the Juraxi System. White Star Crystal. Cheapest in the galaxy. Your pretty girlfriend would like it, yes?”  
“She...she's not...” The Doctor started to protest, but Jess stopped him. She slipped her arm around his and grinned.   
“Oh, sweetheart.” She teased, catching his eye. “Get them for me, please. They're so pretty. I want them...”  
The Doctor caught on, and he sighed, bantering with her, pretending. They needed information, and a cover, and everything was going smoothly. In between buying the earrings – which the Doctor had complained about being painfully over-priced, and asking for directions to a ride Jess had really wanted to go on, they got the information they wanted. Tricked it out of the woman.   
“It's the children.” She'd told them, glancing around quickly. “The children are going missing. I can't talk about it.” She said, urging them out of her shop. “You must leave now.”  
The Doctor banged on the door, but the woman had locked it and pulled down the shutters.   
“Doctor...Doctor I think we need to run now.” Jess grabbed his sleeve, calling him to look at her.   
A group of security guards were making their way through the crowd, headed straight towards the pair of them. The Doctor laughed, fingers wrapping around Jess's and they ran.   
The guards took chase, guns aimed at them. Jess screamed when a blast landed right near her head in the wall. Other people screamed and jumped out of the way. The Doctor careened around a corner, pulling her with him.   
“Don't worry! Not real guns. Phazers, set to stun! They're not allowed to have real guns on this planet! Banned!” The Doctor called to her, as they ran.   
“Yeah?” Jess called back, glancing at him as another shot blasted through a shop window, shattering it around their feet. “Well, that never stopped anybody before!”  
“Oh, shut up!” The Doctor yelled back, spinning her into an ally. “We've got to hide.”  
“Down here!” Jess hissed at him, already pulling the cap off a hole in the ground.   
“The sewers?” the Doctor asked, grinning. “Brilliant!”  
The dropped down into the sewers, feet landing in murky water. The sound of guns spun them around and they were met face to face with four children. The oldest couldn't have been more than sixteen. The youngest, an eight year old girl. Holding guns in their faces.   
“What have we here, then?” The Doctor asked, squinting to adjust to the dull light of the sewer. “Kids with guns?”  
“Are you safe?” The eldest boy asked, shaking the tip of his gun at The Doctor. “Are you one of them?”  
“One of who?” Jess stepped up, asking.   
“One of Them, one of The Workers.” one of the younger kids started.   
“We're not workers, no.” The Doctor said. “We're just...visitors. Just passing through.”  
The guns dropped to the children's sides. The eldest held out his hand, first to the Doctor, then to Jess. “Name's Elijah. We're the resistance.”  
“You're kids.” Jess responded, while at the same time the Doctor spoke.   
“Always liked a good resistance, but she's right. Jess...is...right.” He turned to look at her, and then spun right back to Elijah. “Why are kids a resistance?”  
Elijah looked to the younger kids, motioning them on. Jess and The Doctor followed suit. The little girl took Jess's hand while the Doctor sorted everything out with Elijah. Jess smiled down at the little girl and listened to the Doctor.   
Apparently, it had been going on for a long time, she realized. The Workers, Elijah had called them, meaning the people that ran this place, worked on this planet. They were the heart of this.  
“It was them that's been abductin' us.” Elijah said, walking through a passage and into an open area.   
Probably thirty kids, children of all ages, huddled around. They had blankets and food and weapons and fear on their faces. Jess didn't know this Doctor, not very well, but she knew the old Doctor, and one thing the Doctor would never stand for, in any universe, in any regeneration, in any space or any time. He would not let these children suffer.   
“Why were they abducting you?” The Doctor asked, they sat around a small fire in the cold sewer, the little girl – Mary – crawled in Jess's lap.   
“That's how it's always been done.” Elijah spoke. “The Workers kidnap the kids, brainwash them. The kids become The Workers, and it happens all over again.”  
“Free work force.” The leaned back as he spoke, glancing around. “And no one ever knows.”  
“No one ever knows?” Jess frowned. “But what about their parents? Don't they look for their kids? How could the parents allow this?”  
The Doctor gave Jess a sad look. “It's a big planet, Jess. And everyone who works on it is in on the plan, everyone who works here is covering it up.”  
“Even that nice lady in the shop?” Jess frowned. “The one who sold us the earring?”  
“The little old man, giving that girl free cotton candy?” The Doctor spoke. “The lady running the Tilt-O-Whirl. The officer arresting that man trying to steal the gravity bracelet.”  
“Omigod...but what about you guys? What happened to you guys?” Jess asked, looking at Elijah.   
“We escaped. Just before they got us in the machine and wiped our memories, the others saved us, brought us here. We try to find our parents, but....”  
The Doctor and Jess shared a look at the sad expression on Elijah's face. The Doctor steeled his expression and stood, turning to Elijah. “Alright, Elijah, you're going to have to take us to this...machine.”  
Jess was a bit sad to leave Mary behind, but she followed the Doctor, Elijah, and a small group of children through the sewers and up into a building. They came out in a maintenance hall, dimly lit and covered in dust and green lights.   
“We have to leave you here, Doctor.” Elijah said, glancing around. “If the guards find us, we'll be dead.”  
The Doctor nodded. “You guys stay safe. We'll come back for you as soon as we've sorted everything out, and we're going to get all of you back to your families. I promise.”  
Elijah nodded, shutting the hatch. Jess just watched the Doctor, as she followed him through the corridors, hiding and sneaking. He could be so much like the man she used to know, yet nothing alike at all.   
They made it into a control room of sorts, empty, but full of screens showing shots of all over the planet.   
“Security room.” Jess stated, looking at the monitors. “There's got to be a map around here somewhere..”  
“Why would we need a map?” The Doctor asked.   
“Well, if we have a map.” Jess turned and shot him a glare, almost as if she were challenging him. “Then we could figure out where to find the person in charge. Whoever's in charge of the amusement park must be in charge of the kidnappings. We find them, we can stop them.”  
“Oh, I like the way you think.” The Doctor grinned, “But we don't need any maps.”  
“Why not?” Jess looked up, confused at the Doctor's words.   
He laughed, hitting a big red button on the console beside where he leaned. “Where do you think they take intruders?” He asked her.  
“To the cells?” She hissed, covering her ears from the loud wailing alarms that began to blare.   
The Doctor pulled her closer to him, laughing in her ear. “They get taken to the boss.”  
The Doctor was right, of course. A group of ten armed guards found them and lead them through the corridors and all the way to a reception area. An alien woman behind a desk pressed a few buttons and the guards led them through the door that had appeared.   
They were left in an office, two guards standing watch at the door.   
“You'll wait for the Boss.” one of the guards spoke. “Don't try to escape, you'll be shot on site.”  
The door shut and locked behind them. Jess sighed, throwing herself into one of the chairs. They'd ridden an elevator up almost two hundred floors. Escape from the window wasn't possible. The Doctor started wandering around the room, pulling out his Sonic and buzzing it about.   
“So, what's the plan. Doctor?” Jess asked, kicking up her feet.   
He turned to glance at her as he pulled a panel from a wall and started to play with the wires. “You don't seem very scared.”  
“Should I be?” She asked, grinning.  
He laughed. “Nah, of course not!”  
“So, what's the plan?” She repeated.   
The Doctor grinned, but said nothing. He finished his rewiring, popped the panel back in place, and dropped into the seat beside Jess just as the door swung open.   
“Intruders found in the Security Rooms.” The woman spoke, human in appearance, with long brown hair pulled up into a tight bun and a pinstriped suit. “That's...interesting.”  
She turned and sat at the desk “Tell me, why are you sneaking around my theme park?”  
“Tell me why you're kidnapping children.” The Doctor responded.   
The boss's lips tightened at the response. “How could you possibly...”  
The Doctor grinned. Kicking his feet up. “That's what I want to know. Why are you kidnapping the children?”  
She huffed. “Free workforce.”  
“And you have no problem with that?” Jess stood up, slamming her hands down on the desk, staring at the woman with an angry fire in her eyes. The Doctor's feet fell to the ground, shocked. “You don't have a single problem with kidnapping children from their families and turning them into slaves?”  
The Boss's eyes widened minutely and she leaned back in her seat. “I was one of those children, myself.” She said. “This has been going on for longer than me.”  
Jess glared, staring intently at the woman. “And you thought it was alright to just keep doing it?”  
The Boss shrugged helplessly. Jess leaned back, looked at the Doctor, and then snatched his Sonic Screwdriver right out of his hands. She stormed around the desk and pointed the Sonic at the computer on the desk.   
“What are you doing?!” The boss jumped away from the desk. “Stop that!” She looked as if she were about to come at Jess, or call the guards, but Jess turned to her.   
“Sit down, shut up, and be still.” She ordered, darkness in her voice and a calm anger that sent chills up even the Doctor's spine.   
The Woman dropped back down into her chair and Jess went back to her job. She pointed the device at the computer, watching as the screens scrambled past one by one, almost too fast to see.   
She glanced up and looked at the Doctor. He was watching her, a blank smile on his face, just leaning back and watching. Jess shot him an apologetic smile and tossed the screwdriver back at him. He caught it and tucked it into his inside jacket pocket.   
Jess turned back around and walked over to the window, looking at it. “It's not your fault.” She said, her voice soft. The information still streamed across the surface of her mind's eye. “I'm sorry, but it's not your fault.”  
Jess turned and her eyes met the Doctor. “I assume you've known it.”  
He nodded. “Checked the computer panels. It's AI is far beyond human ability.”  
“What are you talking about?” The Boss looked between the two of them.  
Jess leaned over the desk, to the computer. “The computer has been wiping everyone's minds. All the people that work here, they're not brainwashed.” She pressed a button on the computer and a screen appeared in the wall, pulling up a screen of information.  
“They're dead.” The Doctor finished for her.  
The screen before them showed the “employee information” screen, blueprints of the computer's inner workings.   
The Doctor stood, looking it over. He turned to Jess and frowned. “You know what needs to be done.”  
She nodded, stepping away from the Boss, watching her carefully. She hadn't moved since they'd revealed the biggest secret.   
“We've got to shut the computer down.”  
“It'll de-animate the corpses. Thousands of dead workers all over the planet, chaos.”  
“So first, we need to get everyone off the rides.”   
“Off the planet.”  
“Evacuation alarm?”  
“Brilliant.”  
“Doctor.” Jess glanced nervously at the woman in the room. “I think we should run again.”  
The Doctor looked at the Boss. “Oh..”   
The corpse had stood back up, pale now and hostile, it hissed and ran at them. The Doctor grabbed Jess's hand and slammed the button to open the door, dashing through it with Jess and they ran again, dodging past the guards and down the corridor with seven hostile computer animated corpses after them.   
“We have to get to the computer!” Jess yelled as they ran, hand in hand.   
“Good thing I downloaded a map of the building into the Sonic Screwdriver!” The Doctor responded, pulling her into another hallway.  
He pulled his Sonic from his pocket and aimed it around, adjusting it until it made a high pitched noise. “This way, come on!”  
They ran and ran and ran until the finally made it into the highest levels of the tower. Jess doubled over, out of breath, as the Doctor sealed them into the room with the Computer.   
“Come on, Jess!” He called to her. “I need your help!”  
She steeled herself and ran to him, following all his orders. Pressing some switches and pulling some levers, and an alarm started to ring, loud, over the entire surface of the planet. The evacuation alert. Jess looked at the Doctor.   
“They know we're here now. We've got to get the computer online before the corpses get in!” She warned him.   
“I know that! But we still have to give the people time to get off the rides!”   
“And how long with that take?” Jess asked, looking to the door. She could hear pounding against it, and the sound of bullets hitting metal.   
“Fifteen minutes.” The Doctor answered, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind the computer with him. “The rides all have a fail safe mechanism. In the event of an evacuation alarm, the rides will immediately shut down. It takes fifteen minutes for the teleports to come online, and then everyone gets teleported back to their shipping dock.”  
Jess nodded. “And how long to do you think we've got until they get through that door?”  
The Doctor met her eyes, grinning. “Ten minutes, tops?”  
Jess returned his smile. “They've got guns.”  
“You don't look scared.”  
“Should I be?” The repeated their conversation from earlier.   
The Doctor grinned wide at her. “Nah, of course not.”  
“Well, what's the plan then, Doctor?”  
Jess looked at the screen they stood in front of. The Doctor tapped on the keys. “I just have to get past the security programs. I think I can have it ready to deactivate by the time they get through the door. We just have to find a way to keep them busy until the teleporters start up.”  
Jess nodded. “Alright, one distraction, coming right up.”  
The Doctor looked at her, grabbing her wrist before she could run off. “Jess. Be careful. Don't do anything dangerous.”  
“Don't worry, Doctor.” She gave him a playful wink. “I'll be fine.”  
He nodded, releasing her, and went back to typing on the computer. Jess dashed around the room, checking their resources. She grabbed some cables, moving them around. Reorganized a few units.   
“Doctor, I need your Sonic!” She called, and a few moments later caught it as he tossed it over the top of the massive computer unit. “Thanks!”   
She ripped open a wiring panel and started pointing the screwdriver into it, letting it buzz off as she reworked the wires. The pounding on the door grew louder. The entire thing shook on its hinges, collapsing in on itself. It wouldn't last much longer.   
“Doctor?!” Jess called.   
“Almost done! Almost! I need more time!” He called back.   
The door flung open and a barrage of bullets littered the doorway. Jess had hoisted up a large metal plate in front of her, pried off the side of a computer.   
“They're in Doctor!” She called.   
“Five more minutes!” He yelled.   
Jess cursed, grabbing the control she had wired into the panel. She jiggled it and the power booted up into the system. The wires had been stripped and hung, wrapped and wired around the door. She sent power flowing through them, electric sparking off of them.   
The Doctor glanced around the corner of the machine and met Jess's eyes. “Oh, brilliant!”  
He ducked back behind the computer as another barrage of bullets assaulted them.   
“Doctor!” Jess called, watching the corpses edge closer to the makeshift electrical fence. “I need some help, this panel won't hold up!”  
“Run!” He told her, as soon as the bullets stopped. “Just run to me!”  
He held his arms out to her, watching the corpses stop to examine the wires. Jess dropped the panel and dashed to him, jumping into his arms as he wheeled her around the unit and to safety just as the corpses unleashed another round of bullets by their heads.   
Jess clung to the Doctor, looking up at him as they both fought to catch their breaths. She grinned up at him and he returned it, laughing. Then she stepped away, heart heartbeat rushing through her body. She glanced towards the door, then looked at the computer screen.   
“That won't keep them out for long. It won't take them long to figure out that electricity can't harm them if they're already dead.” She told the Doctor.  
He nodded, hands gripping onto the computer's keyboard. He looked at the screen, hair a mess. Jess leaned against it and looked at him. “We only have three more minutes until he have to shut it off.”  
The Doctor nodded. “And I've broken into the system, but...”  
“But what?” Jess turned a worried eye on the Doctor.   
He looked up at her. “The off switch.” The Doctor said, looking across the room.   
Jess's eyes followed his, through the open area littered with bullets. Across the room, there it was. A big red button.   
Jess groaned. “And we have to hit that?”  
The Doctor nodded.   
“We'll be shot if we go out there.”  
The Doctor said nothing.   
“There's nothing we can use for a shield. Those panels are too heavy to carry.”  
The Doctor still said nothing. Jess looked at him, the grin on his face.   
“You've got a plan.”  
The Doctor jump back, wild grin on his face. “I've got a thing.”  
“A Thing?” Jess questioned, following him around the large computer, keeping out of sight of the corpses. “We need a plan.”  
“I've got a thing.” The Doctor repeated, grinning back at her. “That's better than a plan!”  
“How is that better than a plan?” She questioned, ducking as some fire went right over their head.   
The Doctor stopped at another panel, opening it up. “Screwdriver.” He held out his hand.   
Jess placed the screwdriver back in his hand and he aimed it into the machine.   
“Doctor.” Jess spoke after a while of the Doctor working in silence.   
“What?”  
“In exactly three minutes, the teleporters are going to send everyone back to their ships, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“What about us?”  
The Doctor stopped, and turned to look up at Jess. He didn't respond, but turned back towards the machine that he seemed to be making. “We've got to time this perfectly. We have to hit that button at the exact moment the teleporters turn on.”  
“But if we go to the button, then we'll get shot.” She repeated.  
The Doctor nodded, tugging on the wires he'd wrapped around the length of the metal contraption.   
“Doctor?” Jess spoke again. “Are you making a bow?”  
The Doctor looked up at her and grinned. “As long as the button gets hit, then it doesn't matter if we hit it from here or there.”  
“Oh, you're a clever boy.” Jess grinned.   
The Doctor took the bow, made from parts of the computer with a thin wire for the string. He hooked into it his makeshift arrow, a slender rod of metal from inside the computer.   
He notched it and aims at a switch not too far away, releasing the arrow. It fell short. The Doctor frowned. “Alright, I've never been much good with a bow.”  
Jess held out her hand. “Let me try.” The Doctor handed over the bow and gave her an arrow.   
“Alright, try aiming for the big red lever.” HE told her, pointing it out.   
She notched the arrow and aimed, carefully. She released it, and the arrow flew right into the lever.   
“Oh yes!” The Doctor grinned, hugging her. “Brilliant!”  
Jess grabbed another arrow and stood up, walking back towards the button. “I read a lot of Robin Hood.” She told the Doctor. “We don't have much time, and I only get one shot at this.”  
The Doctor followed her back to the edge of the computer. She glanced across and found the corpses still waiting. Four of the guards pointed guns at them, but three of them had gotten to the electrical fence, testing it.   
“Not much time.” Jess warned.   
The Doctor nodded. “The teleptorter goes on in thirty seconds.”  
The sounds of electrical wiring coming down met their ears. They shared a worried look and Jess notched her final arrow, aiming at the button.   
“Only one shot.” The Doctor reminded her, the sounds of the corpses coming nearer. “Now!”  
Jess released the arrow, just as she felt a tugging in the back of her head. Seconds later, just as corpses came into view, Jess and the Doctor disappeared. They both lurched forward, toppling to the ground. Jess dropped the bow and fell back against the TARDIS. Amy and Rory showed up, landing on the ground beside them.   
“What the hell?!” Amy had screamed, looking around and seeing the Doctor and Jess.   
Jess looked to the Doctor, eyes wild. “Did we do it?!”  
The Doctor pulled himself up, dusting himself off. He held out a hand to Jess while Amy and Rory got to their own feet.   
“Let's check then, shall we?” He said, walking out to where moments before, the streets had been crowded.   
They glanced around, seeing no one. Except bodies. Bodies that littered the ground, laying as if they'd just shut off and fallen down. The Doctor walked to one, checking the person's vitals.   
“Dead.” HE said. “IT would seem, a long time ago.” He stood up and looked at Jess. “Their all stopped now. You did it.”  
Jess smiled, though it was a sad sort of smile.   
“Did what? What happened?” Amy demanded to know.   
The Doctor ushered them all back on the TARDIS, and while they sat around the Control room after hopping into the Time Vortex, Jess and the Doctor explained their adventure in full detail.   
Rory spoke up when they'd finished. “So, what about the kids? The Resistance?”  
“They all got sent back to their ships.” The Doctor said. “Back to their families.”  
“And all the workers?” Amy added. “They're all dead...you...you killed them all?”  
“They were dead before we ever got here.” The Doctor responded, glancing at Jess. She had sat in silence after having gotten to the part about what happened in the computer room. “All Jess did was shut them off. The computer was using their bodies as puppets, they hadn't been alive since it had killed them. When she shut off the computer, she released all those poor people.”  
“Then you saved the planet.” Rory responded, giving Jess a smile.   
She returned it, her head swimming and distracted. It wasn't the first time she'd done something like that, made a decision like that and ended the lives of an entire group of people. She'd made a choice that ended an entire universe once. So why, why did this bother her so much?  
“I'm just going to have a shower and some tea, then.” She stood, giving them all a smile before wandering off down one of the halls.


	6. Chapter Six

A good shower did Jess good. The bathroom the TARDIS had given her was perfect, if not exactly like the bathroom she'd used in the other TARDIS. This one had silver fixtures instead of gold and gleaming white tiles with a step in bath almost big enough to swim laps in, and a wide counter with a large mirror.   
She'd deposited her drawstring bag on the counter and stepped into a bath of the perfect temperature. There were even some scented bubbles. The TARDIS hummed when she thanked it for that little detail.   
She sank into the water and relaxed, thinking about her day, what a long day it had been. She had said goodbye to Rose and her Doctor, never to see them again. They would be dead by now, in that world. A fixed point in time. She hadn't believed it when that Doctor had first told her. She didn't want to believe that nothing could be done to save them. Now, she knew.   
Meeting Jack and the others hadn't been something she'd thought would happen. She'd heard so many stories about them from her mum. Meeting them had been a treat, and had helped her find the Doctor much quicker than she'd thought. Even getting him to let her travel with them had been much easier than she'd thought.   
And, of course, the amusement park had been wonderful. They'd gotten to go on so many wonderful rides, eaten so much food, saved a world full of children from being converted into computer operated dead bodies. The earrings he'd bought her laid on the counter next to her bag. She smiled as the light danced off them and pulled herself up out of the water.   
The bubbles had faded and the water had turned cold. She drained the tub and dried off with a fluffy towel provided by the TARDIS. She tugged on a fluffy black robe sporting golden thread, and fixed herself up in the mirror.   
She had to reach into her drawstring bag several times, pulling out bottles of hair creams and face creams. A toothbrush and toothpaste. All of it was nearly empty, dusty bottles. She would have to get some new stuff. It had gotten hard to find the time to stop and restock in her other universe. Threat of imminent death and all.   
She put everything away, decided to try on the earrings with her damp hair up in a messy bun. She liked the way they sparkled around her face, even if they were amusement park trinkets. A second door in the bathroom took her directly into the wardrobe. She'd been lucky enough to end up somewhere near the night clothes.   
The TARDIS had so many clothes in it, from so many eras. She sifted through everything until she found a red silken top from feudal Japan and dug through piles more clothes until she found a pair of black booty shorts with writing on the butt. Not matching, but she never wore matching things to bed.   
She changed and found a nice pair of slippers to wear, then slipped out the main door into the halls. The TARDIS had deposited her in an old corridor, obviously. Some of these rooms hadn't been used in years. She smiled, knowing that she should be sleepy. She wasn't.  
At least she could have some tea before she went and tried to get some rest. She'd walked past an arching door, leading into an old kitchen. It'd probably been ten or more years since it had last been used, probably shifted into the back rooms when the TARIDS rebuilt itself. A newer one had probably been placed closer to the doors.   
She rummaged through the cabinets, trying to see what might be left in there. Most of them were bare, but she'd found a small metal tin hiding in the back. She wiped the dust off it. The strong scent of tea leaves hit her nose as she pried the lid off. She grinned.   
Inside, she found some tea, perfectly fresh despite the age of the box, several teabags in various flavors of tea. Humming a tune, she dropped one of the bags into her cup and set the kettle to boil.   
As she continued to hum, a song the other Doctor had sung her when she was a baby, she fluttered around the cabinets looking for snacks, anything else. She found another metal tin, this one filled with cookies, just as the kettle began to whistle.   
She flitted back to the stove and poured her tea, adding in some sugar she found in little pink packets on the counter top. She wasn't sure how good this would taste, since she doubted any of this stuff was fresh at all.   
She sat herself at the table and kicked her feet up, taking her first sip. Surprisingly, it tasted very good. She smiled, continuing her little song as she relaxed and let the tea calm her.   
“What are you doing in here?” The Doctor's voice sounded blank, almost angry, but more empty.   
Jess almost jumped, looking up at him. “Oh...hello Doctor.”  
“I asked you a question.” He repeated, staring at her from the doorway.   
She bit her lip, holding up her mug. “I thought I'd have a cup of tea?”  
“In a kitchen that hasn't been used in seven years?” He asked, stepping in.   
Jess shrugged, pulling her feet off the table. Something about the Doctor's mood just made her feel like being more proper. “It tastes fine.”  
“Of course it tastes fine.” The Doctor dismissed her, grabbing a chair and sitting down across from her. “Those canisters are Borantian, anything you put in them will stay fresh forever.”  
Jess grinned. “Well, that's a relief. I was starting to worry that I would get sick from drinking this stuff. Would you like a cup?”   
She wasn't sure why she offered, and she could tell the look on the Doctor's face said that he'd no idea why he said yes. She got up rather quickly, sitting her cup on the table, and went back to the stove. She fixed him up a cup of tea, just like hers, just like her grandma Jackie used to make.  
With a smile on her face, she sat back down in her chair and pushed the fresh cup to the Doctor. His eyes darted to the cup she picked up and a small smile graced his lips before he picked up his own cup and took a sip.   
Jess bit her lip while she waited, curious and wondering if he'd like it.   
“This tea...” He spoke carefully, looking at the liquid in the cup with almost a sort of wonder. “I haven't had tea that tasted this good in a very long time.” He admitted, giving her a grin and a laugh.   
“Well, I'm glad you like it.” Jess responded, taking a sip of her own. “Feel free to ask me to make you a cup anytime.”  
“Well, aren't you sweet.” His voice was teasing and they both laughed again.   
The sat in silence, sipping their tea. Jess chewed her lip a bit nervously. Sitting in the kitchen having a tea with the Doctor seemed a bit too domestic, for this Doctor at least. Her mum's Doctor had quite enjoyed some of the domestic things they'd done. This Doctor didn't seem the type. She almost wanted to laugh at that, but when she looked up at him, she couldn't speak.   
He stared at her, curious eyes beneath delicate brows, searching for something in her face. Her mouth dropped open for a moment, words hanging on the edge of her tongue. She babbled, stumbled for something to say, but in the end all she could say was “What?”  
The Doctor jumped up in his seat, suddenly. Feet on the bottom, leaning over the table to look at her closely. She leaned back, unable to meet his eyes for a moment.   
“There's something off about you.” The Doctor spoke, finally, still searching her face with his eyes. “And I'm not sure what it is.”  
Jess bit her lip, finally looking up into the Doctor's eyes. She could see the confusion there, the battle in his eyes. “What's wrong?”  
The Doctor dropped back down into his seat and kicked his legs up on the table. “The TARDIS doesn't like you.”  
At the words, the TARDIS hummed, an angry wheezing sound.   
Jess frowned. “Oh, you know that's not true.” She told him. “The TARDIS likes me.”  
“It doesn't work for you.” The Doctor tried again, his eyes once more curious as they looked at her.   
“What doesn't?”  
“The TARDIS.” The Doctor spoke carefully, she could tell that he was weighing his words, deciding exactly what to say. “I checked your scans, going to see if you'd been hurt or anything, make sure you were alright, like I did with Amy and Rory, do it every time we get back in the TARDIS.” He started to ramble, talking about one time when he'd taken the Ponds to a planet they didn't know had Amarenthine particles in the atmosphere and had nearly killed Rory a week later before they'd realized what had happened. Of course, the Doctor had sorted it all out, but Jess had to keep him from explaining all that by holding up her hand.   
“What's that got to do with me?” She asked, getting him back on track.   
He laughed, and then looked at her seriously once more. “Well, the TARDIS won't scan you.” He said. “Well, it will scan you, but it won't show me the results. She's blocked me out of accessing your information. She's never done that before.”  
Jess frowned a bit. “Well, I'm sure if something were wrong then she'd let you know.” She'd responded. “Why does it matter? Maybe I don't want you scanning me without me knowing.”  
“Oh..” He pulled back, finger up in the air as if he were about to point something out. “I never thought of that.”  
Jess grinned. “Doctor, why does it matter? If the TARDIS won't show you my scans?”  
He paused and looked at her, dropping his hands down and wrapping them around his cup of tea. “Well, I guess it doesn't. The TARDIS does what she wants.”  
Jess picked up her cup of tea, taking a sip of the now cold liquid. “Are you going to do anything about it?”  
He paused, and a wide grin spread across his face. “Nothing.” He said, jumping up again. He grabbed both their cups and took them to the sink. He dropped his own in, letting the cold tea splash at the bottom. The other, he placed carefully on its bottom and then turned back around to look at Jess. “I'm going to do nothing. Not even sure why I brought it up, not what I meant to say in the first place.”  
Jess rose an eyebrow, looking at him curiously.   
He grinned at her. “What I meant to say was....welcome.” He placed his hands on the counter and gave her a genuine smile, eyes lighting up with wonder and happiness. “Welcome to the TARDIS.”


	7. Chapter Seven

“Pineapples?” Amy laughed, once more. She leaned against a table in the TARDIS's library. One of them, anyway.   
“Living pineapples.” Jess giggled.   
“Oh shut up.” The Doctor groaned, holding a bag of ice over his eye.   
“You got into a fight with a pineapple.” Amy giggled.   
“And lost!” Jess added, and they both roared with laughter.   
Rory gave the Doctor a sympathetic look and checked the bruising on his face. The Doctor shot the two girls a glare.  
“It's not funny.” He pouted at them. “How was I to know that they have genders?! They're fruit!”  
“You insulted the Queen.” Amy responded. “You deserved to get hit. Never insult a Queen.”  
“And you would know.” Rory shot at her, giving her a grin.   
Amy responded by throwing a nearby book at him. They laughed.   
Jess continued to giggle, but cracked open a book and began to read. Honestly, they'd all forgotten whose idea it had been to come into the library. She had found a book and dropped down into a comfortable bean bag chair nearby where the others were sitting and talking. Something on Piradian Physics. She flipped it open and kept reading.   
She read faster than most people, probably because she'd already read every book in all of time and space, and she skipped the parts she remembered. She was halfway into the book when she felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked up.   
The Doctor looked at her, but it was Rory that spoke. “You've already read every book that ever existed.” He'd said, crossing his arms as he looked at her curiously. “You said so, the computer program and everything.”  
“Yes, yes.” The Doctor pushed himself up from the counter and dropped the bag of melted ice in a trashcan. “We know all that, what's it matter?”  
“Well, I'm just curious.” Rory spoke again, looking from the Doctor to Jess. “If you've already read all the books, then why are you reading?”  
“Why am I reading?” Jess asked, giving a small chuckle. “Why not? You can never read to much. Books.” She held up the book in her hand. “The best weapons in the world. Why wouldn't I choose to arm myself?”  
Rory gave a confused expression, almost. The Doctor's eyes darkened over and he seemed to be recalling something. Amy grinned.   
“I've always liked books, myself.” She stated.   
Jess smiled at her, then turned back to the Doctor. “You can learn anything from books. All the information in the world, like this.” She held up her book and let the pages flip.   
The Doctor glanced at the pages as the flipped. “Piridian Physics? What are those even used for anymore? That died out ages ago. No one plays with Piridian Physics anymore.”  
Jess grinned and shut the book. Just three weeks. Three weeks, she had traveled with the Doctor and his Ponds. Three weeks and she'd found her place among them.   
“Who knows.” She teased. “Maybe we'll end up in a time when they're still used. It's never a bad thing to know things.”  
“Not all things.” The Doctor responded.   
Jess grinned. “You like physics.”  
“Time Lord physics.”  
“Oh, whatever. Physics are physics.”  
“Some physics are wrong.”  
The two looked at each other, staring into each other's eyes as they battled with their words in a good natured debate, but as always The Doctor seemed to win. They both laughed. Jess sat the book down and hopped up and Amy and Rory joined in the laughed, though they didn't quite seem to get why.   
A great lurch throttled them. Jess fell into the Doctor. His arm wrapped around her, catching her while his other grabbed the edge of the table and braced them. Amy grabbed hold of the railing near the stairs she'd been flung against. Rory landed right on his butt, and the TARDIS's alarms rang right off, loud, lights flashing.   
“Doctor?!” Amy called out. “What's going on?”  
The Doctor looked down at Jess. He grinned shyly and sat her back on her feet. He brushed off her shoulders and clapped his hands, spinning around. “It's the TARDIS, she's locked on to a distress signal. She's got something in store for us!”  
Amy groaned, catching on to Rory as the TARDIS flung them down again. “We haven't even had a sleep since the last trip!”  
“Doesn't matter!” The Doctor called back, grabbing Jess's arm before bumping into her. “Let's get to the control room!”  
The TARDIS continued to throw them about as they scrambled out of the library and into the corridor. Jess hugged the wall, trying to stay upright as she followed the Doctor down to the control room. She grabbed hold of the jump seat and watched the Doctor grab the screen, spinning it round the control panel as he started flicking switches and tapping buttons.   
She gave another lurch and threw herself at the control panel beside him. She grabbed hold and shot him a grin. “What are we going on, Doctor?”  
His smile matched hers for the smallest of moments, and then he looked at the screen again. He started babbling on, dashing around the console and flipping switches, telling her to help. She followed orders, smashing buttons he pointed out and twisting dials.   
She glanced over at Amy and Rory, who'd strapped themselves in to the seat and were listening to the Doctor explain the planet they were on, or about to be on.   
“Alpha Centuri 13.” He'd said, once he flipped the last switch and the TARDIS had landed. “Year 7089. The beginning of the Great Centuri Prime Empire. Things are just getting started, oh this is brilliant!”  
Jess glanced at the Doctor and pulled down a lever, stabilizing them. He spun to look at her and pouted.   
“Now, what did you do that for?” He pouted.   
“I stabilized the TARDIS.” She responded. “Keep us from getting all knocked about.”  
“But you made it boring!” He continued to pout, ignoring completely the warning they'd just been given.   
“I was getting carsick!” She argued.   
The Doctor looked offended. “You can't get carsick in a TARDIS! It's not...possible.”  
“Um, guys?” Amy unbuckled herself and stood up. “Are you two going to argue all day, or are we going to go find out who sent that distress signal?”  
The Doctor turned to Amy and grinned. “Oh! Right!” He turned, grabbed his jacket off the floor, and strutted out the door.   
Jess laughed at him, watching Amy and Rory follow them. Amy stopped, and looked at Jess. She frowned.   
“What's so funny?” She asked.   
Jess looked at her, then at the Doctor, storming out the door with an arm around Rory.   
“Well.” She started. “He's mad, isn't he?”  
Amy cracked a grin. “Yeah, he is. A madman with a box.” She stared at the doors, an almost sadness in her eyes. “My madman with a box.”  
Jess's smile flickered, and Amy's frown turned on her. “You were flying the TARDIS.”  
“You've done it before.” Jess responded. “Just last week, he let you land on that fish planet.”  
“That's different.” Amy snapped, taking a defensive posture. Her eyes flitted over Jess, distrustfully.  
“Oh yeah?” Jess crossed her arms over her chest, gold bracelet dangling off her wrist. “How so?”  
“For one.” Amy responded, glaring at Jess. “I did what the Doctor told me to.”  
“Yeah?” Jess faltered, “And?”  
“And.” Amy stepped closer to Jess, her voice low. “You were doing what the Doctor told you to do. Before he told you.”  
Jess's expression fell, and her eyes flittered to the door and back to Amy.   
“Listen.” Amy spoke, voice dark. “If you're here to do something to the Doctor, you can be sure-”  
“Amy.” Jess stopped her, taking Amy's hands. “I promise you. I would never do anything to harm the Doctor. You have to trust me.”  
“Yeah?” Amy's eyes moved over Jess's face, searching. “Give me a reason, then.”  
“Alright.” Jess responded, dropping Amy's hands and standing back.   
Before she could speak, the door opened up once more and a grinning Doctor popped his head inside. “Amy, Jess. Are you two coming?” He asked.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> slight warning: this chapter contains murder and genocide.

Tears poured out of Jess's eyes. She stood above the Centuri Queen, looking down at the alien's body, life fading from it. Blood on her hands. Green blood. The Centuri people looked like humans, much like humans. Blind white eyes, they saw with echolocation, like bats. Their blood ran green. Their Queen died at Jess's feet, and she thought about everything that had put her in this place.   
Stepping out of the TARDIS had brought them into a world that had been wrong, all wrong. Jess had kept quiet and let the Doctor explain, the technology was wrong, the architecture was wrong. Everything. All wrong. The Doctor was going to have a field day with that.   
And, of course, somehow they'd accidentally ended up in prison. That had led them into court, and a three day trial process that had ended with some explosions and the army coming after them. That had somehow ended them up in the main palace of the city. Then it had happened. Amy, Rory, and the Doctor had been snatched. Captured, and only Jess had made it out.   
It had been up to her to figure out what was going on and save everyone. This had led to one of the most insane adventures of her life, and the hardest decision she'd ever had to make. The Centuri people were under attack. The Doctor was under attack.   
The tears continued to pour from her eyes as she glanced beside her. Laying on a table, hooked up to monitors and tubes, laid the Amy. And Rory. And the Doctor.   
The Queen looked up at her, heavy breathing. “You are killing me.” She gasped out.   
“You're killing him.” Jess responded, choking on her words. “Let him go, or I'll finish it.”  
“Could you do that?” The queen hissed, “Could you murder an entire race of people?”  
Jess set her jaw hard and stood back, leveling the laser in her hand right at the Queen's head. “To save the Doctor, I would tear apart the universe. Now release him, or your people die.”  
The Queen looked at the almost lifeless body of the Doctor, then back to Jess. She hissed, and Jess pulled the trigger. The laser ripped through the Queen's head, tearing the being inside of her brain, controlling her, apart. The Queen was dead, and so was the entire race of people inside the brains of the Centuri.   
The gun fell from Jess's hand, falling down the stairs upon which she stood. A whirring came from the machine beside her, but she didn't look. Voices groaned and the others woke up. Jess continued to cry, looking at the body of the dead queen before her.   
Her head swam, buzzed and she knew she felt a hand on her shoulder. She could hear voices, voices calling for them to run. A hand in hers. She could feel her feet moving, knew that she was running, hiding, she didn't register anything. She just ran until she was pulled inside the TARDIS and its doors shut behind her.   
The hand in hers disappeared and the Doctor ran to the console, jumping the TARDIS back into orbit in the time vortex. She heard voices, and all she saw were the lifeless eyes of the alien she just murdered and the nine billion that died along with her.   
“Doctor?” A voice finally broke through her brain's shield. Rory's voice. “Doctor, is she alright?”  
She felt hands on her, guiding her to a seat. She sat, arms limp at her sides as she watched Rory checking her for cuts, or wounds, or whatever he thought might have been causing her current state of shock.  
“Jess?” She heard Rory's voice, and looked past him to see Amy leaning against the rails and watching on. “Jess, are you alright?”  
Jess turned her eyes on Rory, and then on to the Doctor. Their eyes met and she knew. He knew. She looked back down at her hands.   
“She wouldn't be alright, would she?” He spoke, voice dark. “She just committed mass genocide.”  
“What?” Amy snapped up at the Doctor.   
He turned to her. “Well, what do you think happened then?” he asked, disappearing around the console as he focused on the screens. The TARDIS hummed in protest. Why he kept trying to scan her, neither of them knew. The hadn't talked about it, yet.   
Jess looked at Amy, watched her as the Doctor continued to explain what had happened in a blank voice. “The Centuri were being controlled, infested. The Evuglin. Creepy little things, look like brains. Look like slugs. Slug brains. They get inside your head and burrow into your brain and control your body. The Evuglins were using the Centuri to replicate themselves. Create a billion billion Evuglin babies and set them loose on all the universe. Transform every living being into one of them.”  
“And?” Amy asked.   
Rory placed a gentle hand on Jess's shoulder, and whispered into her ear. “I'll get you a cup of tea, alright?”  
She simply nodded and let the story continue.  
The Doctor stopped messing with the controls and walked over to her, standing before her and looking down with that sad expression on his face, the one she would recognize on any of his faces. More tears fell from her face.   
“If you kill the Evuglin queen, then all the rest of them will die as well. They're all linked, their lives depend on the queen. And she had buried herself in the brain of Centuri Prime. When Jess put a beam through Prime's head, she cut off the link the Evuglin queen had and killed the queen.”  
“So...she killed all the Evuglins, then?” Amy looked to Jess, who met her eyes.   
Rory came back and handed her a cup of tea. It shook in her hands.   
“Why?” Amy asked.   
Jess looked at the Doctor. They looked at each other and Jess gave the softest of nods, the Doctor asking permission silently.   
He turned to Amy. “The Evuglins were farming people. They were going to use the life force of all these people to advance their genetic code. When they got a hold of me....” He paused, and took a deep breath, and then continued. “The life force of a Time Lord, it could have created millions of millions of Evuglin children. Amy, they would have sapped the killed the three of us...if...”  
“I gave her a choice.” Jess's voice was strained. She took a sip of tea. “I told her to let you go, and she wouldn't.”   
“You murdered an entire race of people...just to save the Doctor?” Amy asked, her eyes turning on Jess.   
Jess simply nodded queitly, then turned to the Doctor. “I'm sorry, Doctor. I couldn't see another way.”  
“Sorry?” Amy stepped down, closer to Jess. “You saved his life, our lives, so why are you sorry?”  
Jess's eyes lingered on the Doctor's. “Eight billion, nine hundred, seventy-two thousand, six hundred and forty three.”  
“What?” Amy's voice.  
She repeated the number. “That's how many Evuglins exist in the galaxy, every one of them tied to the Queen. Every one of them, dead. Their very essence, blinked out of existence in the flash of an eye.” A single tear rolled down Jess's cheek and her eyes found the Doctor's. “Doesn't it hurt, Doctor?”  
Three pairs of eyes trained on the Doctor, and silence spread around them until he finally spoke, his eyes faltering and unable to meet Jess's.  
“Yes.” He spoke. “Yes, it hurts. In my head, all screaming out at the same moment. I heard them as they died. And then they were gone. It's quieter, in my head. An entire race of people died, and I've got less of a headache. Brilliant.” He spoke the last part angrily, bitterly.   
Jess looked down at the tembling cup of tea in her hands. “And what about the Centuri?” she asked.  
“What of them?” He had started to walk back to the console, but stopped and turned back to her.  
Jess laughed, a similar bitter sound. “You can see all of time and space in your head Doctor. Don't lie to me, tell me what you saw.” Tears fell from her eyes again and she stood up, the cup of tea dropping from her hands. “Tell me they're safe. Tell me that I did the right thing.”  
The Doctor stopped, walking back to her, each step taking what felt like hours to her, and he stood before her. His hand gently touching her cheek, and his eyes searching into hers.   
“Oh, Jess...Jessica, dear, sweet Jessica.” He spoke softly. “You are an anomaly, aren't you?”  
She laughed through her tears and he stepped back.   
“Yes.” He cleared his throat, and spoke again. “If you hadn't done that, then Amy and Rory would have died. I would have died. Nothing else could have saved the Centuri, and the rest of the world would have followed shortly. Everyone in all of existence would be the mindless shell of the Evuglin. You saved the entire universe.” He took her by the shoulder, holding her close to him in an awkward sort of half-hug, the way he always did with others.  
“I didn't do it for them.” She answered, another tear falling down her cheek. “I did it for you, Doctor.” Her hand came up and touched his cheek. “Your life, to me, to the rest of the world, means more than the lives of everyone on the planet, and don't you think for a minute, for even a single second that I won't tear the universe apart to save you.”  
“Yes...” He spoke softly, he spoke carefully, he stepped away from her and looked at her in a way she'd never seen. Awe. “But why?”  
Jess laughed. She actually, truly, genuinely laughed. And then she turned to Amy, her face stone. “Are you satisfied?” She asked.  
All eyes landed on Amy.   
“Have I proved it?” Jess asked, once more.   
Amy, stunned, nodded, stumbling for words before a lame “Yeah...Yeah, good..” came from her mouth.   
Jess smiled, tired in her eyes. “I'm going to bed.”  
No one tried to stop her. She stepped around the Doctor and up the stairs and down the corridor. Her head hurt, her brain burned. She just wanted to rest.   
She realized she'd made a mistake, somewhere around her third left turn. She hadn't found her bedroom when she should have, and looked around her. At first, she thought she'd made a wrong turn, but a soft hum from the TARDIS assured her that it had just moved the corridors. Taking her where it wanted her to go. Where she, somehow, had secretly wanted to go.  
“Alright.” She whispered to the TARDIS. “Take me on, then.”  
The TARDIS hummed and she felt a jolt, a gentle nudge to keep walking. In front of her, she found a door swinging itself open, and laughed when she read the name of the room on a silver plaque.   
“Observation Deck 7?” She questioned aloud, and stepped into the room without hesitation.   
The door swung shut and deadlocked behind her. No one was getting in that door until the TARDIS was ready to release her.   
The room was big, and white, and blank. Jess walked to the center of the room and sat down, making the softest order to start the projection.  
Instantaneously, the room sprung to life with colors, swirling all around her. Bright reds, and golds, and blues. Hues she had no name for in speech. Colors that could not be described, and every single tiny particle held a moment of time in its wake.   
The time vortex spun all around her, and she cried. The golden light swirled around her, touching her face and caressing her skin and poured from her eyes. And she saw.   
She saw the moment the laser had pierced the alien's brain. She saw time rewind itself and she watched the fall of the Doctor and the fall of empires and the end of time itself.   
The projection ended and once again, the white room returned. Jess's entire body shook with tears as she sunk to the ground, the last of the golden light fading off her skin.   
And she cried.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter!

“Come along now, Ponds.” The Doctor rocked on his feet, grinning widely as he turned to collar on Jess's coat up. “It's going to be cold.”

“Where are we this time, Doctor?” Amy asked, popping out of one of the corridors with Rory in tow. 

They were both dressed for cold weather, as the Doctor had told them to be. He was standing at the door and grinning, clapping his hands together. 

“Well, I thought..” He paused, and looked at them. “I thought I'd like to bring you all to a celebration. There's been far to much...sad....lately. Happy. That's what we need, a little bit of happy. So, I brought you here!” He swung the door open and flung himself out into a street. 

The others followed him out, stepping into a street. 

“Looks like Earth.” Amy spoke. “Where are we?”

“Kemen.” Jess looked up at the Doctor in awe. “I haven't been to Kemen since I was a little girl. It was Midsummer then. Now it's...Doctor? When are we?”

The Doctor grinned wide at her. “Oh...when are we? I like that. Simple, really.” He paused as a group of people walked by. 

“Doctor...” Rory called his name softly, his eyes raking in the pale appearances, blonde hair, and pointy ears of the aliens. “Are those....Elves?”

“Elves?” The Doctor spun to look at Rory. “Not Elves...their Elves. No. They're not. Well, they are, but their not. They're Elves. No, Elves. Oh, rabbits.”

“Rabbits?” Amy questioned. “They're rabbits?”

“No.” The Doctor spun to look at her. “But I'm trying to say they're name and the TARDIS keeps translating it.”

“The name of these people translates in English into Elves.” Jess spoke up. “This people visited the earth a very long time ago. We called them Elves, then. Legends and stories were born of these people.”

“So what?” Rory asked, sounding surprisingly excited. “We're going to hang out with the Elves?”

“On New Years Eve.” The Doctor added, looking at them as if he'd just won an award. 

“Wait.” Jess put up her hand. “Which New Years?”

The Doctor turned to her and smiled, snapping his thumbs under his suspenders and rocking back on his heels. “The festival of the Stirring.”

Jess's eyes lit up with wonder and she dove at the Doctor, wrapping her arms around him. “OH, lovely! I've always wanted to come here.”

The Doctor smiled, pulling her off him. He turned to Amy and Rory, meeting both their eyes in turn. 

“Well...” He put out his hand, ushering them down the street. “Come on, let's go celebrate.”

Amy laughed, taking hold of Rory's hand as they started walking through the streets. “Down boy.” She teased, glancing at Jess. She leaned over and whispered. “He loves Lord of the Rings.”

Jess chuckled and they walked through the streets. Music filled the veranda, and they found that they were in trees. A city, completely in trees. And when they found the shops, it was Jess who had exploded with joy. She grabbed the Doctor's hands and darted through the shops, one by one, until the were stopped by Rory's call. 

The Doctor pulled her back walking back to where Rory had stopped in a shop and picked up a pair pair of gloves. Beautiful gloves, woven in starlight. The woman running the shop looked at him kindly, but it seemed they were having an altercation. 

“Doctor.” Amy spoke when they walked in, her eyes glancing to Jess and the Doctor's linked hands. Jess let go, tucking her hands into her pockets. “They won't take the money. They said the credits aren't accepted here. You said they were accepted in all of space and time.”

“That's because the Elven don't accept money. They trade in something much more meaningful than that.” The Doctor responded. 

“What's that?” Rory asked. 

“Names.” The Elvish woman responded, leaning down to look at them with a calm smile on her face. “We take names.”

“Names?” Amy asked. “But I don't want to give you my name.”

“Not your name.” Jess responded, looking from Amy to the Elf woman. “The name of something dear to you. It's an emotional transfer. You simply give them the emotion attached to the name, and if it's worth enough, then you get what you want to pay for.”

“But you can't use the same name twice.” The Doctor added. “Once you've paid with a name, you can't use the same name to pay for something else, so be careful about what names you give. To use the name of something beloved, you must have to really want what you're buying.”

“Good lord.” Amy looked between the two of them. “It's like having two Doctors. A Doctor and an encyclopedia.”

Jess pouted, but the Doctor took her arm and gave it a little squeeze. Amy had accepted Jess into the TARDIS, but that didn't mean they'd become friends. She still didn't trust her. And she let everyone know it.

Jess gave the Doctor a look and stepped up to the saleswoman. She took the gloves from Rory and handed them to the woman, giving her a smile and leaning in. She whispered a name, the name of something she cared about. The name of something she loved. 

The woman nodded and handed the gloves back over to Jess. She turned once more and handed them to Rory. “They're yours now.”

“Um...” Rory hesitantly took the gloves, glancing at Amy before he looked back to Jess. “Thanks...I guess.”

Jess gave a soft smile. “It's quite alright. They were relatively cheap. I gave her the name of my first pet.”

“Really?” The Doctor seemed interested, turning to Jess with a smile. “What kind of pet?”

“Doctor?” Amy's voice sounded stiff when the Doctor turned to look at her. 

“Yes?”

“Doctor, I think I want to take Rory on my own for a while.” Amy spoke, glancing between Rory and Jess. “Would that be a problem?”

The Doctor frowned, looking at all three of his friends. He didn't seem to pick up on the animosity between Jess and Amy, or maybe he had and just hadn't said anything about it. “The people of Beren are friendly, and this is their festival of New Years. As long as you don't insult anyone's gender, you'll be fine.”

Jess gave a small giggle at the reminder of the pineapple incident from three days before. Then her smile faded at the memory of what happened next. 

Amy grabbed Rory's hand and took his, nearly yanking him out of the shop and almost causing him to drop the gloves. 

Jess watched them go. “She really doesn't like me.”

“What?” The Doctor frowned, “Amy? No. She likes you, really!”

Jess gave him a look, one that made it obviously that she was not accepting his lie. He pouted. “Really, I can't imagine why she doesn't like you. I do.”

Jess ignored her heart skipping a beat and pointed out the obvious. “She's jealous.”

“Jealous? Amy?” The Doctor didn't sound like he believed her.

“Well, yeah. She's flying around all of space and time with the two men in the world she closest to, and then all of a sudden, here comes this strange new girl. And I know more about the universe than her, and she's scared, Doctor.” Jess paused, and looked up at the man that stood beside her. “She's afraid I'm going to replace her.”

“What?” The Doctor gasped. “Of course not! No one is doing any replacing! Not today, not ever.”

Jess laughed, the sound coming sad from her lips. “I know that, Doctor. But she doesn't. I know, you'll pick her every time.” Jess looked up at him, into his eyes, and she felt the sudden need to cry. 

This man, this Doctor. He was her Doctor, and he was not her Doctor, and he was someone knew all together. This was not the man who raised her, but this was the man she would spend as much of the rest of her life with as she possibly could. The idea that he would leave her when Amy decided to tell the Doctor. It broke her heart. 

“Why do you look so sad?” The Doctor asked, cupping her cheek in his hand. “I didn't bring you here for you to be sad.”

“Why did you bring me here, then?” She asked, turning away from him and letting his hand fall down her arm and back to his side. The touch left a small shiver down her arm, even through her jacket. 

“To thank you.” His voice stopped her from walking away, and she turned to look at him, wide-eyed. “To thank you for saving my life. I brought you somewhere you could make a happy memory.”

Jess smiled, even giggled. “But how did you know I would like here?”

The question brought a shy look upon the Doctor's face, like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. “I'm sorry, I didn't want to invade your privacy or anything, but I peeked into the records to see the books you've been reading. The most recent one was about Beren.”

Jess nodded. “I had a dream, the other night. Strange dream about this place, and the last time I was here.”

“When was that?” He asked her.

“I was a child. With my mum. We'd stopped here to get a wedding veil. They do make the most beautiful silks and laces.” Jess walked as she spoke, the Doctor following along with her. Her eyes glazed with memory, as she stepped back into time. She could see the streets exactly as they were when she was seven. No longer covered in snow, the misty night surrounding them and the stars twinkling through the trees. 

“I'd been standing on a corner, while she was in a shop. Wanted to watch the people. First time she'd ever let me out of the ship while we were landed on a planet. That's when I met them...”

“Met them? Met who?” The Doctor asked. 

Jess shivered at the memory. “I group of bullies. I didn't know a world this kind and peaceful could have bullies, but there they were. Looked about ten, at the time, but I didn't know how these people aged back then. They threw leaves on me, and they kicked my shins, and I cried. It was the first time I'd cried since I stopped wearing diapers, Doctor.”

Jess gave a sigh, and looked at the sad expression on his face. “It's alright, Doctor. Don't be sad. The memory ends happy.”

The Doctor glanced up at her, hope in his eyes, and gives a small laugh when she giggles at his actions. 

“I met a wonderful woman, beautiful and kind and powerful, and she sent the bullies away, and fixed me up, and took care of me.” Jess finished the story, but of course some details were left out, as always.

She turned around to keep walking, and she bumped into someone. The Doctor caught her, standing her back up on her feet and keeping a hand on her, to keep her steady. She immediately turned around and apologized to the person she'd run into, but she gasped when she recognized her.

“It's quite alright.” The woman spoke, serene smile on her face, crowd of white jewels upon her head, and long blonde hair flowing down her back into the folds of her silken dress. Her head tilted. “Do I...do I know you?” She asked. 

Jess's eyes darted back and forth for a moment, her mind working at light speed to work it out. When she figured it out, she smiled widely, almost too widely. 

“Oh yes.” She responded, giving a small bow. “But it was a long time ago, and only for a moment.” 

The Doctor watched her and the woman, a small smile on his face, a confused one. He must have known who she was. The other Doctor, her Doctor, and told her this might happen. Memories, bleeding through the cracks. Things that happened in her universe that happened just a little parallel in this one, and this was a moment. 

The woman smiled. “Oh, you were the little girl?” She asked. “The one crying on the corner.”

Jess nodded. 

“You look...different.” The woman narrowed her eyes. “I didn't expect you to grow up to look like this.”

“You haven't aged a day, M'lady.” she bowed. 

The woman smiled. “You grew up beautifully, My dear.” She spoke, then turned to look at the Doctor. “And you've brought a husband with you, this time.”

“Oh..he..he's not my husband.” she spoke, shyly. 

“Yet.” The Doctor responded, stepping up finally and speaking. He held out his hand to the Elven woman and bowed politely. 

“Fiance, then?” The woman smiled peacefully at them. 

The Doctor looked up and met her eyes. “Hello, Princess Elandria. My name is, the Doctor. This, as you've already met, is my fiance, Jess.”

Elandria looked between the two of them and gave a smile. “You've come to celebrate the Stirring, haven't you? Oh wonderful. Won't you join me, for the party in the palace, later.”

“We would love to.” The Doctor responded. “But we have to meet back up with our friends.”

Jess whined and looked at the Doctor. “Doctor...please? For me?”

He looked at her, and he pouted, and then he sighed and gave in. “Alright, let me just call Amy.”

Jess pulled out her phone and handed it over to the Doctor. 

He dialed a number and flinched when he heard Amy's loud voice in his ear. 

“Amy, yes...yes I understand. Alright. A parade? Oh, that's wonderful!” He responded after short pauses, letting her talk. 

“What's that thing?” Elandrial asked Jess, speaking softly. 

“It's a communicator.” Jess responded. “Allows us to talk to to each other through distances. Kind of like your tree network.”

Elandrial nodded at the mention of the network of physic veins that ran through the trees to send messages between the people. 

“Well, I thought I would pop in to a party at the palace.” The Doctor spoke again. He paused, and then frowned. “Actually, no. Jess got us invited, but you can come along. They've invited us all.” 

He paused, another frown, and then spoke again. “Come on, Pond. Don't start that....Fine...fine fine fine!” He held up his hands in defense, though she wasn't there. “We'll go without you. Have fun at the parade.” 

He smashed the end button and handed the phone back to Jess. “Alright, we're going to the party. Amy and Rory have elected to spend their time in the lower festivals.”

Jess saw the sadness in the Doctor's eyes, but she responded with a gentle hand in his own. “They'll be fine, Doctor. Come on, we've got a party to go to.”

The Doctor's expression changed to a grin, wide and elaborate. The two walked with the princess back to the castle. It wasn't a castle, as it were. It was a large network of trees, hanging higher than all the other trees in the area. Littered with starlight and the most beautiful crystal decorations. 

“But, your highness,” The Doctor spoke carefully as they entered the palace, the great stone floors built into the trees. The beautiful staircases. “We haven't proper clothes for a party.”

The princess smiled kindly to them, while some maids met them in the grand foyer. “That's quite alright, the maids will take you to your rooms. They will give you clothes for the party, anything you desire.”

They thanked her, and followed the maids upstairs until they were separated, going down separate corridors, up separate sets of stairs into separate trees. 

Jess was taken to a great, beautiful room with a wooden floor and a great window with no glass. The maid led her into a bathroom, where a great warm bath was waiting. The bubbles relaxed her more than she'd ever been relaxed before, and she had to remember to get some for the TARDIS before she left. 

When she'd safely bathed, the maids sat her down in a chair in front of a great glass mirror. 

“How would you like your hair, Ma'am?” The maid asked her politely. 

Jess thought about it for a moment, and then gave a soft smile. “I want it to look....like something the Doctor would like.”

The maids gave solemn nods, speaking between the two of them softly before they started work. It seemed like it took hours. She sat as still as she could while they brushed out her hair with crystal combs and curled it, and braided it, and straightened it. 

When she looked back in the mirror, after they had added some make-up, she gasped. A braid separated her top and bottom halves of her hair. The top half hung in tight curls and the bottom straight and smooth. Her eyes had been lightly lined and a soft sheen of lip gloss shined on her lips, blush on her cheeks. 

“I look...wow...” she touched her face gently, not wanting to mess up the make-up. 

The maids smiled, and led her into a room, a wardrobe. It held some of the most beautiful dresses she'd ever seen, and a long mirror. The maids brought out dress after dress and held up for her, until finally she found one she liked and they helped her in, giving her a pair of crystal encrusted heels. The dress itself, fell smooth around her legs, all the way to the ground. It wrapped around her chest and neck, leaving the back open, lined with little silver chains that she could feel tickling her skin. This dress had left her no room to wear her bra, which she felt a little awkward doing, but it supported her well enough and she smiled happily. 

“You look wonderful, Ma'am.” The maid told her. “It's time, now. For the ball.”

Jess nodded, walking easily in the heels. It had been a while since she'd worn such impractical shoes, but she was happy that she seemed to wear them well, still. 

The maids led her through hallways into a great room, full of people. Beautiful decorations and great sculptures of crystal and ice, floating around the great ballroom. She stood at the top of the stairs for a moment, looking down into the crowd. Most of the people were natives of Beren, but there were many who had come from all over the galaxy for this festival, and most of them were royalty. 

Among them, she saw the Doctor, talking with a group of people happily. She smiled. They'd dressed him in a white silken, double breasted suit. She laughed, walking down the stairs. 

She could feel eyes on her, and she knew she didn't belong in this place. She just made her way to the Doctor, a small, shy smile on her face. It had been much too long since she'd dressed up, and she hoped that he would like it. 

She cleared her throat when she'd faced his back, him still talking on about something spacey that she was sure the poor people he was speaking to wouldn't understand. 

He spun around, and his expression dropped. Jess bit her lip. 

“What do you think?” she asked. 

A smile graced his face as he stepped to her, taking her hand. “You look....beautiful. You know, for a human.” 

She laughed at the way he teased and slapped his shoulder playfully before he pulled her over to introduce her to the people he'd been talking to. They kept the cover that they were betrothed, though they both giggled when neither of them could even think up a good reason for having let the princess believe that in the first place, except the Doctor didn't want to contradict her idea. 

They snacked on some of the food, and they spoke with the princess, and they watched some of the entertainment. And they danced. 

Jess had been surprised. The other Doctor had always said he didn't dance. Could, just didn't. While this Doctor seemed to love dancing. Not that what he was doing was something Jess would call dancing. She laughed as he waved his hands around in the air, taking him and pulling him closer to her. 

“I think that's quite enough of that, Doctor.” She laughed. 

“What? You don't like my dancing?” He pouted. 

“I would hardly call that dancing.” She teased. 

He laughed with her, picking up a nearby glass of champagne and taking a sip. Jess had forgone any of the alcoholic beverages they'd offered her that night. She teased the Doctor about how much he'd had to drink, though. 

“Time Lord biology.” He'd told her. “I process the alcohol faster than your human body does, so it would take a lot more than this to get me drunk, as you call it.”

Jess giggled. “Well, maybe one day I'll just spike your tea and get you drunk, then.”

“Oh, you wouldn't dare.” He looked at her in mock horror and they laughed. 

“Am I interrupting?” Elandria came up behind them, smiling softly. “You both seem to be enjoying yourselves.”

“Oh, we are.” Jess responded with a smile, “Thank you so much for inviting us.”

Elandria gave the softest giggle. “Actually, I have a favor to ask of you and your betrothed.” She looked between Jess and the Doctor for a moment.”

“Anything at all that you require.” The Doctor spoke up. “It's the least we could do to thank you for inviting us.”

Elandria nodded. “It seems that the performers for the final ceremony will not be able to complete the ceremony. Since you two are in the proper position, I quite hoped that you wouldn't mind taking over.”

Jess squeaked, surprised. “The..the final ceremony?” She asked, looking up at the Doctor.

He simply glanced at her, then assured the princess they would do it.

Jess turned to him when she'd left. “The final ceremony.”

“Yes.” He picked up a cube of cheese and nibbled at it. 

“You do know what that is, right?”

“Yes. Do you?”

“Obviously.” Her eyes narrowed at him. 

He looked at her, finally, his expression suddenly nervous. “Did I do something wrong?”

Jess kept silent for a long moment, and then chuckled. “No, no. It's alright.”

The Doctor smiled. “Good.” He paused, then, and took her hand in his. “I want to make sure that you have a wonderful time. You are enjoying yourself, right?”

Jess nodded. “Of course, Doctor. But why are you so worried about me?”

“Why are you so worried about me?” He asked. 

Jess paused, looking up at him. “Shouldn't I be?”

He looked into her eyes, searching, leaned in closer to her. She looked back at him, sure he could hear her heart pounding inside of her chest. Whether it was because of their close proximity or her fear that he had figured out her secret, she wasn't sure. 

“You've only known me for one month, but you were willing to eradicate an entire species to save my life.” He spoke softly, an unasked question in his eyes. 

“You're a good man, Doctor.” Her voice came barely above a whisper, her hand reaching up to touch his face. “I've read all about you. Every piece of information that has ever existed. I know a lot about a lot of things, but there has never been anything I've ever been more sure of in my life than this.”

“And what's that?” He asked, shifting from one foot to the other, his eyes looking at hers, from one to the other, some emotions in his eyes she couldn't pick out. Fear, nervousness, concern, worry, curiosity.

Jess smiled softly, her hand dropping from his cheek. “The universe needs you, Doctor.”

His smile was sad, holding a great weight behind it. 

“Amy needs you.” She went on. “Rory needs you. I need you. The Centuri needed you.”

“Nah.” The Doctor responded, giving her a smile. “The Centuri didn't need me. You're the one who saved their species.”

Jess chuckled, she couldn't help it. 

“That's why we're here.” He spoke kindly to her. “As a thank you, for saving the Centuri, and the Ponds. And Me. You deserve a good party.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Jess smiled, a tear welling up at her eye. 

The Doctor reached up and brushed it away with his thumb. “I hope those are happy tears.”

She nodded, but before she could say anything further, someone had come to take them to the stage. Jess took a deep breath, listening to her heart pounding in her ears. She felt the Doctor's fingers slide around hers, but that didn't seem to calm her any. 

“Are you nervous?” HE asked. 

“Yes.” She responded. 

“You'll do fine. You know exactly what do to.”

“Yes.”

He smiled. “It'll be fun.”

“Yeah.” She found herself smiling as well, though still nervous. “Yeah, sure.”

The ceremony consisted of a dance. Jess knew every move. She'd read about it, studied it in video archives, practiced it on her own. Standing in front of a crowd of royalty, soft harps humming in the background, and performing the dance...with the Doctor, of all people, was nothing like she'd expected. 

The final moves of the dance ceremony fell to an ends as the great clock began to ring. Jess held her hands in front of her, wrists exposed to the Doctor. He caught her eye and gave her a playful wink as he placed her on top of his. She could feel his heartbeat running through his wrists. 

The clock rang out the eleventh chime, and the Doctor pulled her closer. She held her breath, unable to believe this was about to happen. A final chime from the clock, and he pressed their lips together. 

The contact lasted only until the ring of the last chime faded away, as was the custom of the ceremony. When The Doctor pulled away, Jess stared at him with wide eyes and a red blush. 

The applause of the crowd broke her out of her shock and the Doctor took her hand. They turned towards the crowd and bowed before stepping off the stage. Groups of   
people came to thank them, and congratulate them. The Doctor did most of the speaking while Jess clung to his arm and smiled politely, her head swimming. 

At the end of the night, after they returned to their own clothes and said goodbye to their new friends, The Doctor finally asked her. 

“You've been quiet for a while now.” He spoke. 

Jess looked up at the stars. “Lot on my mind, I guess.”

“You're not going to get awkward with me, now, are you?” He glanced sideways at her. 

“Why would I do that?” She asked. 

“I kissed you.” He admitted. “Of course, it was just part of the ceremony. I had to, I just....don't want things to get awkward.”

Jess chuckled. “It won't get awkward. But, as far as kisses go, I couldn't have thought of a better first one than that.”

“First?” The Doctor stopped walking, eyes widening at her. 

She turned and looked at him, her smile fading into a pout. “Oh, don't act like it's shocking. So, I haven't kissed anyone yet. I've been busy.”

“Okay..” He let her grab his arm and pull him back down the streets towards the TARDIS. 

“Really, Doctor.” She glanced at him and smiled. “I'm glad my first kiss was with someone I trust, my best friend.”

He smiled softly, stopping her in a place where the moonlight hit her. She hadn't taken down her hair or taken off her makeup yet. “Oh, Jess.” He spoke softly to her. “You really are an anomaly, aren't you?”

Jess giggled, stepping away from him. “Come on, Doctor.” She reached out her hand to him. “I want to buy something else before we go back to the TARDIS.”

The Doctor smiled, taking her hand and letting her pull him off into the still crowded streets, laughing along the way.


	10. Chapter Ten

  “Are you sure it's time?” The Doctor asked, softly, his eyes trained on Amy.

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory stood in the back yard of their house, saying their goodbyes once again. Jess had said her awkward goodbyes, but decided to stay in the TARDIS and watch their goodbyes on the monitor.

Amy nodded. “It's been months, Doctor. Our friends are going to start suspecting...again.” She laughed.

The Doctor hugged Rory. “I'll be back in a few months, then.”

“We'll ring you. Just answer your phone this time.” Rory offered.

The Doctor laughed and turned to Amy, hugging her. When they pulled away, Amy glanced at the TARDIS, then to the Doctor.

“Doctor...” Amy spoke. “You watch out for her...Jess.”

“I wish you'd get along.” The Doctor responded, frowning slightly.

Amy sighed. “Just..I don't trust her is all.”

The Doctor nodded. “Amy, Don't worry. We'll be back in a few months.”

“Promise, Doctor?” She asked, reaching up and taking his hands. “Promise me you're coming back.”

“Pond.” The Doctor smiled softly. “My Amelia Pond. Don't I always come back for you?”

She paused, and smiled shyly, as if she'd just caught herself being stupid. “Yeah, yeah you do.”

“And I'll be back in a few months.” He said.

She nodded.

Jess stepped away from the screen and sighed, sitting down in the jump seat. She was still there when the Doctor walked back into the TARDIS, still pouting.

“Alright then.” He clapped his hands together as soon as he reached the console. He spun to face Jess, grin on his face. “Just you and me now, the two of us. The Doctor and Jess Harkness. Where shall we go?”

Jess laughed at his behavior. “You are so odd.”

“At least I'm not Ood.” He joked, making them both laugh.

He flipped some switches and started typing out on the console. Jess watched with minute interest. She refused to admit that she was nervous. She'd only been with the Doctor two months, and this was the first time they would be alone in the TARDIS together. Of course, they'd been out on adventures, just the two of them. When they'd been separated from Amy and Rory, or when they had not felt up to going out on the journey – which had only happened a few times when they'd only stopped for spare parts or something and ended up getting wrapped up in an adventure.

Amy, though her dislike of Jess had been growing steadily more obvious, had kept her promise to keep the things she noticed about Jess a secret.

“Seriously.” The Doctor turned and looked at her. “Where should we go?”

Jess bit her lip and thought for a moment. “Let's go somewhere beautiful.”

The Doctor smiled, spinning around the console. “I know the perfect place! The alignment of the Lambda Equalae. Happens only once every four thousand and six years. The stars line up in just the right pattern and sends beams of light through the entire sky.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Jess smiled, and gave a great laugh when the TARDIS lurched and threw the Doctor to the ground. One of her favorite parts of the traveling was being jolted around because the Doctor refused to use the stabilizers, or “boringers” as he called them several times when she pointed to the lever and asked what it was and what it did.

The planet they decided to stop on had a long name she didn't feel like trying to pronounce. The people looked human enough, except the green skin and the reversed genders. Apparently, the Doctor told her, the men were the ones who gave birth and it was the women who were in charge of making the living and protecting the society.

“Class Five planet, protected. Basic civilization, just like your Earth.” He told her, and then started to chuckle at the look she was giving him. “But I'm sure you already knew all that.”

She laughed. “I read something about it, yeah.”

The Doctor leaned back on the hood of the car they'd borrowed. Well, rented. Well, commandeered. Using the psychic paper. A blue convertible. They'd driven it to the top of a hill outside of the city and the lights and parked at a lookout. One of those places in 80s American movies that was always named 'Lookout Point' or something like that, with a perfect view of the city, where teenagers always came for a snog.

The two of them leaned on the hood against the windshield, looking up into the sky as they waited for the alignment. The stars appeared by the thousands, many more than in the night's sky back on Earth.

“It's almost no point in taking you places.” The Doctor teased, turning his head to look at her. “Every time I go to explain something, you already know it.”

“Knowing about things's never as good as actually doing em.” She responded, returning the grin. She sighed and looked up at the sky, sitting up. “I know so many things, Doctor. But that's all it is. Things. Facts. I know about this planet and their people and their culture and I know about the alignment, but knowing about them isn't the same as meeting them.”

The Doctor looked at her, saying nothing. She could feel his eyes on her, and see his smile out of the corner of her eye. “Truly.” He spoke softly, almost to quiet for her to hear. “Anomaly.”

Jess wanted to laugh, but before she could the sky exploded. The time had come, and the stars aligned. Lights burst through the sky, all the colors of the rainbow fluttering like ribbons through the sky. Like the Aurora Borealis back on Earth.

She looked up at it with wonder in her eyes, wide smile on her face. “Oh yeah.” She spoke, simply aloud, not actually talking to anyone, or the Doctor. “No amount of facts can compare to the real thing.”

She felt warmth around her shoulders suddenly. The Doctor had taken off his coat and wrapped it around her bare shoulders. The night was late and it had gotten chilly. She hadn't realized she'd been cold until she found the warmth of the Doctor around her. She turned to meet him, finding a bit of pink in the Doctor's cheeks. She smiled.

The two of them sat side by side, in silence, watching the lights in the night sky until the very last second that they disappeared. They continued in silence to climb back into the car, his jacket wrapped around her tightly as she sat in the passenger side, letting the chill air fly around her face.

The Doctor looked at her and grinned as he drove wildly down the empty dirt road down the hill. He laughed, and she laughed. Then the car sputtered and creaked to a halt, smoke pouring from the engine.

Jess whined. “What's wrong, now?”

The Doctor jumped over the door and popped the hood, waving smoke from his face and coughing as the smoke cleared. Jess sat in the car, waiting.

“Oh hell.” He looked into the engine. “The whole thing is shot. Won't be able to fix this without the proper parts.”

“And let me guess?” Jess asked, leaning over the door to look around the car as best as she could. “You don't have the parts, and we're going to have to walk back to the city?”

“Walk?” The Doctor frowned, walking around the car to lean against her door. He could peer down the mountain and see the city below, lights glittering in the distance. “That's nearly fifty miles. Do you think you could walk that far?”

Jess shook her head. “So then what?”

“We call for a tow.” He said. “And we stay here for the night. We can put the roof up. It's a warm night. Camping. We'll go camping!”

Jess laughed. “You can see the fun in anything.”

“Well, isn't that life?” He asked, jumping into the back seat and putting his feet up. “It's much more fun than seeing the bad in everything, don't you think? Give me your phone?”

He held out his hand and she produced the phone from the pocket of her black leather jacket and placed it into his hands. He called the tow service and dropped the phone back in her hand when he was done. “They'll be out first thing in the morning.”

Jess grinned, spinning around in the front seat and climbing into the back to sit beside the Doctor. She tucked her feet under her and he stretched his over her lap, head resting against the door.

“Camping, then?” She laughed.

He glanced down at her and chuckled. “Camping.”


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Jess are suddenly on their own for a while. What trouble are they going to get into now?

  “Well, that was miserable.” Jess pouted as she followed the Doctor into the TARDIS.

She pulled a patch of seaweed off her soaked shoulder and tossed it onto the floor.

“Oh, Come on.” He pouted. “Don't mess up the TARDIS.”

“You messed up my clothes!” She shot back, flinching at the squelching in her shoes.

“It's not my fault!” He spun on her, his own hair clinging soaked to his face. Water dripped from his bow tie. “How was I to know the TARDIS would land in the lake?”

Jess opened her mouth to speak, but she said nothing. Instead, just started laughing. Softly at first, and as the Doctor joined in, she had to hold on to her stomach as she laughed so hard that her body shook and her lungs burned.

When the laughing fit ended, she and the Doctor leaned against each other, they stood back up properly. The Doctor stepped away from her, looking around almost awkwardly.

“We should get cleaned up then, yeah?” He asked.

Jess nodded and the two of them walked back into the corridors. She turned and went into her own room, heading straight for the bathroom. A nice shower, using the new bubble bath she'd gotten from Beren. Even the soap the Doctor bought her when they'd spent the night camping last week in a broken down car. She laughed, recalling his pout as she complained about how badly she smelled after a night under the stars. He'd immediately bought the soap and handed it to her.

She took a nice bath and dressed herself up in some clean clothes before making her way back out to the TARDIS control room. The Doctor was already there, fresh and clean and wearing his trousers, shirt, vest, and a dark blue bow tie.

“Always the bow ties.” She greeted him with a laugh.

“What's wrong with my bow ties?” He glanced over at her and pouted. “Bow ties are cool.”

Jess walked over to the control panel, leaning against it. “So, what's next?”

“Sleep.” The Doctor responded. “You should get some sleep. That was a long day.”

Jess gave him a small glare. “I'm not sleepy.”

“You haven't slept in two days.” He looked up at her. “How are you not sleepy?”

Jess shrugged. “I'm just used to not sleeping often.”

“That's not healthy.”

Jess shrugged. “Why don't you just shut up and take me somewhere wonderful?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her, grin wide as he pulled down a lever. “Wonderful it is then! What about a planet where all the people are purple and have ears larger than their heads? Or one where the fish fly in the sky? Or how about....New Orleans, 1794. The Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre.”

Jess laughed. “Let's go see art.”

With a nod, the Doctor spun around the control panel and flung switches. The TARDIS gave a lurch and they held on tightly, spinning around. The Doctor called to her to flip switches and twist dials. She tried to make sure to wait until after he'd told her to turn the dials before she touched them.

The TARDIS landed and Jess clapped her hands. “Are we going to the theater now then, Doctor?”

“Not dressed like that, you're not.” He looked at her, laughing at the pout on her face. “I can't, in good conscience, let you go to El Coliseo in your pajamas.”

Jess looked down, laughing when she saw that she'd in fact, changed into sweats and a baggy shirt.

“Alright, hold on!” She laughed, holding out her hand, one finger held up to motion to the Doctor that she wouldn't take long.

She dashed down a corridor, skidding into walls as she ran as fast as she could to the wardrobe. She found the section labeled '1750-1800' and grinned. She looked through the clothes and found herself something proper to wear.

She picked a red dress, low cut with ruffles in the front and double buttons up the corset. Long to the floor , the petticoat poufing just around the back and the side. Sleeves stopped at about her elbows. She found some black ankle boots with short heels. Cute, but still somewhat practical. She started back out the door, but frowned when she walked past a mirror and saw her hair. She dashed into her bathroom, grabbed a brush and some pins and dropped the hat she'd grabbed on the way onto the counter.

She worked quickly, knowing the Doctor was waiting. She ran her finger across her wrist and the silver bracelet turned into a watch. She pressed some buttons and grabbed a lock of her hair. She wrapped her hair around her finger, pointed the watch at it, and then the sonic sound whistled into the air.

When she released the hair, it stayed perfectly curled. She did this many more times, until all of her hair was curled. Then she pinned some of it up to the side of her head. She placed the hat on her head, black with a red ribbon wrapped around it that tied around her chin. She donned the slightest bit of makeup and then dashed back down the halls and into the console.

“What took you....” The Doctor started to chide her until he turned around and saw her. His eyes widened and he looked up and down her. “How do you always do that?”

“Do what?” She asked, stepping over to him and leading him to the door.

“Look so....gorgeous.” She wasn't even sure she'd been meant to hear his response. It was barely a whisper. She decided to ignore it and opened the door, stepping outside.

Jess walked out onto the street and the Doctor followed her, simply grinning.

“La Salle Comedie.” Jess smiled, placing her hand on the Doctor's arm. “Shall we?”

The Doctor grinned and started walking. The surroundings were beautiful, Jess noticed. Everything looked new. Much newer than New Orleans in the time she was born, the one she'd seen in pictures. The area that would eventually be known as the French Quarter.

“This is amazing.” She told him, looking around as they walked through the street that would become Bourbon. Filled with shops, instead of bars. Still about the same amount of people on the streets.

“You're welcome.” The Doctor grinned at her, like he'd won first place in the Olympics.

“Shut up.” She teased, letting him lead her through the streets and right up to the theater, a small building with a short line.

They stepped into the line, and when they reached the man at the door, the Doctor held up his physic paper. “The Doctorr and wife. Box seat tickets.”

The man nodded, and let them through. Jess continued to grin and followed the Doctor up a small staircase and into an empty box. The theater was small, with not many seats, but the stage was nice and tickets were supposedly expensive.

The Doctor pulled out her chair for her, and she pulled up her dress enough to allow her to sit properly.

“So, what are they playing tonight, Doctor?” She asked.

The Doctor picked up a pamphlet nearby and showed it to her. “L'inquisition de Madrid, by Andre Getry.” He told her with a grin. “Written just last year, I think.”

Jess grinned, and then thought of something and frowned as she looked at the Doctor. “Why are we always saying we're married?”

“What?” The Doctor looked up at her, confusion on his face.

“To the ticket man.” Jess responded, looking away from the Doctor's eyes. “You told him I was your wife.”

“Of course I did.” The Doctor responded, laughing as he looked down at the stage. “What else could I say? This is the Seventeen Hundreds, Rose. Men and women don't go out alone together unless their married. It's unheard of.”

“Rose?” Jess repeated the name carefully, curiously, her heart pounding in her ears.

The expression on the Doctor's face changed, his eyes widening with fear and his hands gripping the arms of his chair tightly. He gulped, glancing over at Jess.

“Did I...say Rose?” He asked, carefully.

Jess nodded.

“Sorry..” His voice cracked, and he looked away from Jess again.

Jess bit her tongue, thinking quickly and speaking as if she had no clue what was going on. “Doctor....who is Rose?”

“She was just....someone.” He spoke softly, unable to meet Jess's eyes. “Someone I haven't seen in a very long time.”

“And you called me her?” Jess's stomach flipped.

“You remind me a bit of her, is all. You're not offended, are you?” He slipped out of his fearful state and turned a worried look to her. She could tell the will it took him to meet her eyes. “I don't think women like being called the wrong name, sorry.”

Jess gave a soft smile. “This Rose.” She asked. “Was she a good woman?”

She was sure she saw tears in his eyes, despite the smile. “The best.”

“Then I'll take it as a compliment.” Jess responded, reaching out and taking the Doctor's hand in her own, wrapping her small fingers around his hand.

His smile lingered on her for a moment longer before both of their eyes turned to the stage. The curtain drew back and the play began. Their hands never once left each other's through all three acts of the play. Neither spoke a word, and neither looked away from the stage. Not until the very end and the curtain drew to a close.

When they looked at each other, both of them frowned.

“That was...” The Doctor began.

“Amazing.” Jess finished.

The Doctor nodded, glancing at the stage. “Too amazing.”

Jess bit her lip, suddenly unable to contain her smile. “Something to investigate?”

“Of course!” The Doctor grinned.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breaking up this adventure into a few chapters instead of one big long one! always more to come!

“So, I'll infiltrate the base, Pretend to be an actor looking for a job and get in to investigate.” The Doctor explained their plan. They stood in the TARIDS, now, still in their clothes from the theater.

“You?” Jess almost laughed. “As an actor?”

“What?” He frowned at her. “Like I can't act? I'll have you know I'm friends with William Shakespeare.”

Jess finally laughed, a good roaring laugh, at this statement. “Knowing a writer of plays does not make you an expert in acting.”

The Doctor just looked at her, frowning, arms crossed over his chest. “Alright then, Little Miss Know It All.” He spoke haughtily. “What do you propose we do?”

Jess gave him a smirk. “I'll infiltrate the base, pretend to be an actor, and go investigating.” She repeated his words to her.

They stared at each other for a moment, then the Doctor shook his head and stepped back away from her.

“Nope.” He spoke, shaking his head. “Nope, absolutely not. Too dangerous. Not going to happen.”

“Oh, come on, Doctor. You wouldn't care if Amy went investigating.” Jess pointed out.

The Doctor pulled back, eyes darting around. “Well that's because...it's Amy Pond! It's not like I have a choice!”

Jess laughed, “What, and you think you have a choice with me?”

The Doctor's face fell and he looked at her in silence for a moment. “Well, at least change first.”

“What's wrong with what I'm wearing?” She asked, looking down at her pretty red dress.

“It's too pretty.” He pointed out. “No one looking for a job at De la Rue is going to be dressed that well.”

“Oh,” Jess sighed, pouting down at the dress. “I suppose you're right. Bummer, I really liked this dress.”

The Doctor smiled at her as she skipped down back to the wardrobe and returned moments later in a more simpler dress of beige and browns. The Doctor smiled nicely at her, taking her by the shoulders and spinning her around.

“You look great.” He told her. “Even if your dress isn't big and fancy, you still...you look good.”

Jess giggled and stepped away from him, her expression turning darker, more serious. “Alright then, Doctor. What else am I going to need for this adventure?”

“Adventure?” He asked. “Mission, I'd say, but adventure? I like that.” He grinned, then spun, and handed her a brown wallet.

“Blank paper?” She asked, flipping it open.

The Doctor laughed. “Psychic paper. Shows you what you want to see...but I guess you already knew that.” He gave her a shy smile. “You can make it show them references. Something famous, or fancy. Might give you a better chance of getting in.”

Jess laughed. “I won't have any trouble getting in. I mean, have you seen me? Pretty girl in the south, best actress in the u..world.” she quickly changed her word at the end, masking it with a smile.

The Doctor laughed. “Alright then.” He ushered her out the door. “Off you go, and you make sure you call me if anything else happens.”

“What are you going to do, Doctor?” She asked, standing outside the door of the TARDIS.

He grinned at her. “What I do best.”

Jess returned the smile, knowingly, and shut the door behind her.

As she had thought, infiltrating the stage hadn't been hard at all. She would refuse to tell the Doctor, later, that she'd used the psychic paper for references. Then she'd acted on the stage with some of the actors. The play they had been working on for the next week's performance. She knew all the lines by heart, stuck inside her memory and accessible any time she wanted.

Of course, they'd accepted her in and given her a tour of the facility. Three of them seemed nice enough. The other eleven scared her a little. It was one of the three that showed her around the building.

“And this is the costume room.” The man, Bertrum, opened a battered old door.

It squeaked on its hinges to reveal a room with six dressing tables and racks upon racks of costumes. Jess grinned. She hoped this would take long enough for her to at least get to do one performance before everything was settled.

“The bathrooms are this way.” He pointed towards a staircase. “And the rooms we stay in are up the stairs. I'll show you 'em later.”

“Wait.” Jess stopped, looking down the hallway just before going up the stairs. “What's down that way?”

Bertram frowned, glancing down the hallway and then back up the stairs. “That ain't nothing. Just the door to the sewage and stuff. Don't need ta go back there.”

Jess nodded, heading up the stairs, but she glanced back at the hallway with a frown.

Up the stairs, she'd been given an old brass key. The key to a room. Bertram smiled. “Practice starts in the mornin. Hope you're feeling up to it.”

“Oh, yes Sir.” Jess grinned, spinning around while holding the skirts of her dress. “I'm so looking forward to it.”

Bertram gave her a soft laugh. “You're a sweet girl, Miss Harkness.” He told her. “Good luck to ya.”

He shut the door and Jess waited for a moment, just to make sure that no one would come round. She pulled her phone out of the fold of her dress and called the Doctor. Almost as soon as he answered, the TARIDS wheezed and appeared next to her in the small confines of her tiny room.

The Doctor stepped out, Jess sitting on the tiny bed. “Is it safe to leave the TARDIS in here?”

He shrugged. “Would you rather me leave you here to sleep on...that?” He jumped up on the bed, but it didn't bounce. He jumped back off and sat down next to her. “So, what have you found out so far?”

“Not much.” She said. “But there's definitely something strange going on. There's three of the staff here who are nice enough, but the others...they're a bit scary. Look kinda mean. I don't trust them, Doctor.”

He nodded, folding his hands together as he thought. “Anything else?”

Jess leaned back and thought about it. “Hmmm...Well, there is the back door.”

The Doctor looked up at her with an eyebrow quirked. “Back door?”

Jess nodded. “Bertram acted a bit strange when I asked him about it. Showed me through every single door, even into the bedrooms and bathrooms, but he refused to take me down that hallway. Said it was the backdoor or something, led to sewage.”

“Jess...” The Doctor spoke carefully, his eyes lighting up as he looked at her. “There is no back door.”

“What?”

“This building. While you were getting in here, I looked up the floor plans. This building doesn't have a back door. The back wall is shared with the hotel on the other street.”

“Oh...” Jess paused, then her eyes lit up and she turned to look at the Doctor. “Ohh....”

The Doctor giggled. “This will be fun.”

 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Jess hid behind a large crate sitting in the corner of the theater's store room. In front of her, two of the strangest of the actors were talking. Jess hadn't meant to eves drop, but she'd found herself hiding when she heard them walking into the kitchen.

She'd been under cover for three days already. Two more and she would get to perform, but she thought it might not take that long. Not for the Doctor. He'd left the TARDIS parked in her bedroom, but refused to use the stairs or door to get in and out, thought that might be a little odd. Instead, he chose to scale down the side of the building into the alleyway – small and narrow as it was.

At first, she'd thought that she would get nothing important out of the people. She was sure they were aliens. What else could they be, the way they acted and talked. At least eleven of the actors in this theater were aliens.

They spoke of the next performance, and the new girl. Jess bit her lip when they talked about her. About how she was actually a good actress. About how they might be able to use her. She didn't like the way they'd said it.

Of course, then, they said something much more interesting. Hosts? Jess wondered to herself what they meant by hosts. Feeding the hosts. She had been paying more attention to the idea of what these surely – supposedly – alien people could use her for that she'd not completely heard what they were talking about.

She waited for them to walk back out of the kitchen and dashed up the stairs and into her bedroom. She grabbed her key from around her neck and unlocked the door. Her only request of her new friends was that they not go into her room, and she kept it locked at all times so that they couldn't, even if they wanted to.

“Doctor!” He flung open the door of the TARDIS and ran inside. “Doctor, I've got some information!”

He looked up from the console, a frustrated expression on his face. The face of a man who was one word off from finishing a crossword, but the correct answer didn't fit the blanks he'd already filled in. He smiled when he saw her.

“What's that, then?” He asked. “What did you find out, because I've been sitting here and the only thing I can figure out is that a huge amount of electricity is being pumped into that building...but I can't figure out where it's going or why they want it.

“But I might have overheard something that can help us figure out what they are.” Jess spoke, leaning against the TARDIS control next to him, a smile on her face that suggested he'd better praise her or she wouldn't tell him a thing.

“Alright then, go on.” He smiled, turning towards her. “What did you find out?”

“They were talking, right? And I overheard one of them saying something about hosts. About feeding the hosts, whatever those are.”

“Might just mean the people their going to visit? Offerings of food are usually common when visiting, aren't they?” The Doctor frowned.

Jess shook her head. “No, no, this was different. They were talking about it like guards talk about prisoners, yeah? Like they need to keep the hosts alive for something. What if they're telepathic? They could be controlling their brains.”

“Or they're using some kind of manipulator to project the human's form on their selves and they have to keep the original humans alive to maintain the feed!” The Doctor suggested with a smile, grabbing Jess by the hand and spinning around with her before he turned back to the monitors and started tapping away furiously at the keys. “That could explain the electricity surge. Whatever technology they've got in there to keep up their appearances.”

Jess grinned. “So?”

“So what?” The Doctor didn't bother to look up from the console as he continued to type.

Jess frowned at him, then grinned widely, throwing her arms around herself in a dramatic pose right out of a vintage magazine. “Am I brilliant, or what?”

“Or what, is a good question.” The Doctor brought up, grinning deviously.

Jess slapped his shoulder with a laugh.

“Alright.” He grinned at her, stopping what he was doing for a moment to look at her properly. “Jessica Harkness, you are truly brilliant. A precious anomaly this world will never forget.”

Jess tried to hide the blush on her face by tossing her curls over her cheeks and looking down. When she thought she'd composed herself, she looked back up at him.

“You goof around too much, Doctor.” She told him.

He nodded, looking back at the monitor. “Well of course I do.”

Jess flopped herself down in the jump seat, kicking her feet over the edge and playing with her fingers.

“Do you ever take anything seriously?” She asked him, curiously.

“I take everything seriously.” He responded, tapping into the TARDIS controls.

“You laugh at everything, you talk to much, and you have the most ridiculous grin I have ever seen.” She counted things out on her fingers.

She could see him looking at her through the reflection of the TARDIS's screen. He was pouting. She chuckled under her breath.

Then, he grabbed his coat and shoved his arms into it and stormed out the doors of the TARDIS. Jess frowned and stood up, following him out. Her bedroom was empty, the curtains blowing in the wind. She shut the TARDIS's door and leaned against it, giving a deep sigh. Now he was off investigating...or something...and he was probably moping around because she'd teased him.

Jess shook her head, fixed her hair up again, and then walked back down the stairs to start practice for the performance.

She wasn't really sure what had happened, during the performance. It was her and four of the other actors working on a particular scene. None of the nicer ones. She hadn't been comfortable. There had been some kind of accident and she'd fallen with one of the other girls reciting her lines. She heard a crack when they landed, something smashing against the ground. Something that sounded metal.

Jess pulled herself up and rubbed her arm where she'd landed. It stung, badly. Her dress had torn. But the bleeding cut against the length of her arm was not where her focus had landed. It was on the person she'd fallen with. Who wasn't a person, she'd been right.

These were aliens. Gruesome, scary looking aliens. The abdomen of a wasp, fiery red, and the body and legs of a scorpion, leading up to an almost human looking head with eyes set like a spider's. Jess almost screamed.

Only hadn't because one of the other aliens wrapped a hand around her mouth and another around her arms from behind. She panicked, struggled, and tried to break free, but the alien was strong. Much stronger than she.

She heard a hiss of the alien she'd exposed, the TARDIS translating it. “Broke my projector. She's seen the truth. We must hide her with the hosts.”

She screamed against the hand on her mouth tried to speak to them, but couldn't make anything out.

The other three looked at her, and one of the men frowned, stepping towards her. “We really are sorry, Miss Harkness. You're a wonderful human, truly. But we mustn't let anyone know of our plans.”

With that, the alien holding onto her dragged her off the stage and into the living area of the theater beside. Down to the hallway that lead to nowhere. The Doctor had tried it the night they'd arrived. It had opened after the Doctor used the Sonic Screwdriver, but had opened right up to a brick wall.

Now, as the alien opened the door before them, It pulled a brick from the wall, hiding behind it a keypad. Tapping in some numbers, the bricks flickered and suddenly the image of a ship came into view.

Kicking and screaming, she was dragged through the portal, a transport that lead right to the alien's ship, Jess assumed. She was dropped inside of a cell, the glass door sliding down the moment she was deposited inside.

She spun around, pulling herself up off the floor. The aliens gave her one more look and then left her in the prison. She decided to get a look around, as well as she could, and when she climbed up onto her feet, she pressed her hands against the glass.

Blood covered one of her hands, from the cut on her arm. She had forgotten the sting until she noticed her blood make a hand print.

“Hurt, are ya?” A voice startled Jess, causing her to jump.

She spun around, finding herself face to face with four other people. Their faces scarily familiar. The people, the actors. The real actors. She couldn't help her smile.

“You're alive!” She smiled.

“All of us, Miss.” The woman, Annabelle her name had been. She pointed behind her and Jess turned around. In three other cells, all the actors and actresses were in cells in groups. Annabelle spoke again. “But....why are you here? What happened?”

Jess winced, finally feeling the pain in her arm. “I got hurt, hurt one of them too. They put me in here because they didn't want me revealing them.”

Another man, Jeffery, walked up to her with a first aid kit and asked her to sit. He started working on her arm while she asked them questions, figured out the true story of what had happened.

The aliens had crashed their ship. The one they were in, currently. Their teleport arch had made a link into the back of the theater. The aliens had captured the actors and replaced them. Kept them alive in the cells. Kept them fed and clean and, some of them had said, given them better living than they'd had before.

“But why?” Jess asked them, after hearing their story. “What are they doing here?”

“This ship.” Annabelle spoke, looking around as though the entire thing made no sense to her, was just some crazy dream. “They threw us in here and took our faces...”

Jess nodded. “How long, then?” She tried to sound as caring as she could.

Annabelle suddenly looked like she was going to start crying. “We don't even know, Miss.” Her voice cracked and broke. “There's no windows, no calender. It could be years...months...we don't know. Miss, are we going to die in here?”

Jess smiled kindly and shook her head. “No.” She told Annabelle, resolutely. “We won't die here. Want to know how I know?” She asked.

Annabelle nodded, and the others moved in, even the people in the other cells stood at their doors and looked to her.

“There's a man, a brilliant, amazing, and wonderful man.” Jess's eyes smiled, taking Annabelle's hands. “His name is the Doctor. And he's going to come for me. He's going to save all of you.” She paused, her eyes catching the gleam of her watch, hidden behind a silver bracelet. “If I don't save us all first.”

 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter in the Doctor's point of view, and just the smallest glimpse into his mind right now...and a few fun developments in the adventure! This one is a rather long adventure!

The Doctor whizzed his Sonic Screwdriver over a brick wall. He didn't even have it on the right setting, and he knew it. He should have been trying to resonate the bricks to see if there was some kind of a false or hidden door. He had it on the 'custard' setting. He wasn't even sure what the 'custard' setting did. He didn't care.

He sighed, shutting off the Sonic Screwdriver, and spinning to rest against the wall. He'd fast-talked his way into the hotel next door, into the laundry rooms where the wall connected with the theater on the other side. He hadn't given up that the wall was more than a wall. But right now, he couldn't seem to care about working on it.

He slammed his head gently into the wall, leaving a dull throb against the back of his skull that faded seconds later. He did it again, closing his eyes. His hands balled into fists at his side and his mind ran away with him, his hearts angry and burning with sadness.

Rose Tyler. His Rose. Beautiful and bright, smart and caring and fearless and kind. Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth. It had been over a hundred years for him and he could still see her form in front of him in perfect detail, though his mind would never be as good as the real thing.

He shook his head, trying to pull Rose out of his mind. She had been lost to him for a hundred years. He could not bring her back now. He thought he'd moved on with this new regeneration. Thought that the image of her in his mind wouldn't feel like suns imploding inside his chest.

This was Jess's fault, the thought suddenly popped itself in his mind. He nodded, lips turning down into a frown. It was all her fault. He hadn't thought of Rose in at least thirty years, at least not every single day. Not until Jessica Harkness stepped onto his TARDIS.

The girl was an anomaly. Absolute anomaly.

The first moment he'd seen her, he'd thought he was looking at Rose. Oh, how they looked alike. He could almost think that they were related, if he didn't know that it was physically impossible. For one thing, Jack was her father – and the Doctor knew that Rose and Jack had never had children. Of course, he couldn't be sure that Jack hadn't gone back in time and had a child with one of her family members.

He gagged at the idea of Jack Harkness and Jackie Tyler having a kid together. He flipped some settings on his screwdriver, his mind going a million miles a second – give or take a few trillion miles – trying to come up with a logical explanation.

It was impossible for them to be related. Rose was in another universe, completely trapped there with no way back and another Doctor and another life and happy. Happy, he reminded himself. She was happy.

Seven billion, or so, people on Earth, and that lead for an almost infinite number of hereditary traits combined into an almost infinite number of faces. It was only logical that there would be more people in the universe that would look like Rose. He once met a Vuvalian who, despite being green, had a face so similar to his last incarnation, he had almost thought he'd run into himself again. That would have been a fiasco.

He wouldn't admit that Jess scared him just a bit. She didn't make sense, and he usually loved things that didn't make sense. But Jess, the rules of the universe didn't seem to apply to her. Not the way they did to his other companions. He paused at that thought. Did he consider Jess his companion? She was only on board until they picked up the Master's trail – or he came to find and kill the Doctor – and they stopped him. And then she would be gone.

He tugged at his bow tie and stood back up, calibrating the Sonic Screwdriver for setting 98. He aimed it at the bricks and watched as they glowed blue from the light the device gave off. Nothing showed up on the wall. Nothing changed. Setting 98 was for detecting bodily fluids – blood, urine, saliva, etc.

He sighed, gripping the screwdriver tightly. He had to get his head on straight. If he didn't, then they'd be here forever trying to figure this out. He really didn't want to be there forever. He'd settle for another six hours or so.

Suddenly, the Sonic began to whir, loud and angry. The Doctor pointed it at the brick wall, scanning every surface he could reach, and then suddenly the sonic went silent. He held it up, flipped at the switches and inspected it.

“Oh....” He looked up, eyes wide, and then dashed out of the hotel. He called a goodbye to Maria, the sweet elderly Spanish lady who'd let him in, and ran as quickly as he possibly could.

He crashed through the wrought iron fence and nearly flipped over on himself. When he scrambled back up, he threw himself around the corner and grabbed the rope ladder he used to get out of Jess's room with. He scaled her room and jumped into the window. A quick glance showed that she wasn't there.

He dashed into the TARDIS, screaming for her. He tapped away on the screen, checking the TARDIS's rooms to see if she was anywhere inside. The TARDIS did tend to tell him where she was...most of the time. She wasn't in the ship.

He widened his scans, searching for her. He had to make sure that she was safe. “Come on, come on...” He rushed under his breath, trying to get the TARDIS to search faster. The ship gave an annoyed hum, chastising him for rushing her.

He spun around the console, pressing buttons and twisting dials with one hand while the other dragged the screen around in a circle with him. Finally, the two white lines across the screen stopped osculating and narrowed in on a spot.

He tapped a few more buttons and a 3D model of the building they were in popped up on the screen. Jess's location pinpointed at exactly forty feet away. Directly up. The Doctor glanced up, seeing only the roof of the TARDIS.

“That can't be right.” He muttered. He ran out of the TARDIS and back to the window, climbing half out of it and looking above the roof of the building. They were on the top floor, and Jess wasn't floating in mid air.

He turned around and went right back into the control room. He tapped some more on the TARDIS's control panel, fingers composing up complex algorithms and formulas that changed the programming of what the screen showed. Nothing on it changed, and he hit the side of it. The screen fizzled out and returned, this time showing the exact same screen. Only this time, Jess wasn't forty feet above the roof, hanging in midair. She was forty feet above him in the holding cell of an invisible ship.

He frowned. “Oh, Rose. What have you got yourself into this time?” He asked, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “No..no...” He muttered to himself. “Not Rose, never Rose. Stop saying Rose.”

Then he suddenly grabbed the monitor again, his face full of glee. “A spaceship! Oh, wonderful! Now, we've really found something. Don't worry, Jess. I'll come get you.”

He tossed his Sonic up into the air and caught it again, shoving it into his pocket. He dashed out the door of the TARDIS once more, but skidded to a halt just outside the door.

“Oh...” He paused, hands up in front of him, palms exposed to the three people who stood in front of him. He glanced behind them to find the door broken at the handle, the three men having forced their way into the room. “It's not...what it looks like.” He stumbled out the words.

“Who are you?” The largest of the men bumbled out, voice deep and booming, stumbling in his surprise. It was obvious that none of the men had expected a man to run out of a big blue box inside of a girl's bedroom.

“Me?” He asked, waving his hands around a bit and righting himself. “I'm just...me. Friend of the girl who stays in this room, I am.”

“There is no girl in this room.” The man responded. “This room had been empty for months.”

The Doctor shook his head. “You see, you shouldn't lie to me. Bad things happen to people who lie to me.”

The man narrowed his eyes at the Doctor. “I repeat.” He spoke again, voice more stable now, more dangerous. The Doctor didn't show any hint of fear as the man spoke. “Who are you?”

“I'm the Doctor, and you're going to tell me what you did with my friend.” His voice came out calmer than the alien's stolen one did. All three of them looked at him, confused fear apparent on their faces.

The leader of them cleared his throat, bowing up to look much bigger than he already was. “We shall tell you nothing!” He hissed at the Doctor. “Get him!”

The other two rushed forward, but before the Doctor could get out of the way, or even step back inside the safety of the TARDIS, the two men grabbed him tight by the arms. He struggled, but they really were quite strong.

“What'll we do with him?” One of the men asked.

“Yes.” The Doctor responded. “What will we do with you?”

“Take him and put him with the other humans.” The leader spoke, voice gruff.

“Humans?” The Doctor laughed, looking between the two men holding him. “You think I'm human, then?”

The leader, who had already turned to walk out of the door, turned back and narrowed his eyes at the Doctor. “What do you mean, you ain't human? You look human as the rest of em...us.” He cleared his throat and looked around, attempting to cover up his slip.

“You look human, too.” He grinned.

The man looked at him, and the Doctor continued to grin, speaking again. “Listen, I don't know why you're here, or what you want, but I can help. Just give me back my friend, and we can help you.”

The leader growled, raising the cane in his hand as if he were going to take it across the Doctor's face. He stopped, though, and frowned. “Possibly, you can help us then, Doctor.” He looked at the men, still with death grips on the Doctor's arms. He thought his fingers were going numb. “Take him to the stage and gather the others.”

 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

  Jess swiped her finger over her silver bracelet, transforming it back into a watch. The others watched her with an odd fascination. She hadn't had a hard time explaining to them the truth about aliens. They'd spent god knows how long on that ship, so aliens was as good an explanation as any.

“What's that then?” Annabelle asked Jess, looking at her watch.

Jess smiled. “It's a Sonic Watch. It's just....a really fancy device that does, well, loads of things. Watch.”

She tapped on the buttons a few times, twisted the dial, and then held the face of the watch up to the glass panel. She mashed the red button and the Sonic device's whistle hummed through the room, the suction of the glass releasing to let the door slide open.

Annabelle gasped and stepped back, but quickly the shock got over her and she gathered up the others while Jess released the other two doors.

She spun on the group, looking at the eleven people in front of her. “Listen.” She told them all, speaking loud and with authority. They needed to know that they could trust her. That they had to obey her on at least this. “There's a man out there. He's called The Doctor. And he's here to help you. So whatever he tells you to do, you do it. If he tells you to run, then you run. Don't any of you try to stay behind and help. If he tells you to get out of there, then you do just that. Do you all understand me?”

The group gave her a timid response, and they followed her to the door they'd been brought in from. Jess inspected it, humming softly as she scanned the door frame. “I should be able to get this thing going again...” She muttered to herself.

She slid open the console and started tapping out a series of numbers. The result sent a harsh beep. She groaned and tried again, three times. On the fourth, she finally got a ding and the door shifted, showing the view of the inside of the theater, a door right back into it. She reminded everyone to be careful, and stepped through into the hallway.

Immediately, the was met with a loud hissing sound, like metal grinding on metal and steam whistling through disjointed pipes. She could smell smoke, and she cursed. She turned to Annabelle behind her. “Just get everyone out!”

The woman nodded and Jess dashed off through the building. She had to find the Doctor. She doubted he would be anywhere other than the center of trouble, and followed the sounds of the commotion.

She found herself in the catwalks, above the stage. Barely put together and shaking with each careful step she took, she watched below her. She'd found the Doctor and the aliens, all eleven of them. All the doors into the auditorium where they were had been blocked off, she couldn't open them. The only free passage she found had been the stairs leading up into the catwalks and even that had been dangerous.

The Doctor stood in the middle of the stage, hooked up to a great machine, wires coming all around him and inserted into his arms. Jess flinched when she saw this. What exactly had he gotten himself into since she'd last left him?

She bunkered down as close as she could, trying to see through the smoke billowing out of the machine that seemed to have been built beneath the stage and brought up through the floor. Well, she realized, now they knew where all that electricity was going.

“You will help us, Doctor.” One of the aliens hissed. She could no longer tell who was who, since they'd all shed their perception manipulators and could be seen for what they really were. Hideous, scary, possibly dangerous creatures. Of course, she wasn't sure how dangerous they could be, they had kept everyone alive and safe instead of killing them all off, like most aliens they tended to meet.

“You can't do this!” He yelled back at them. “It's never going to work! Please, I can help you, but not like this!” He struggled against his restraints.

“You will help us.” The alien hissed again. “Or the human will die.”

Oh, she pouted. And she'd been giving them the benefit of the doubt only to have become a bargaining chip.

She took a moment to look at the machine the Doctor was hooked up to. She didn't know much about machines, especially ones that were build out of a mix of alien tech and machinery from 1790 America. However, this device did look something like a generator. A giant, person powered generator.

Suddenly, she realized what they were about to do, and she gasped, hand clasped over her mouth. She hoped the sounds of the machinery were too loud for her to have been heard.

The Doctor spoke again, she seemed to have missed some of the conversation. When she looked back at the Doctor, he'd somehow managed to escape his bonds, though he was still hooked up to the machine. His Sonic Screwdriver pointed at the wires he'd gathered coming out of his arms.

“Let them go, or you will regret it.” He told the aliens, and all of them stepped back, shocked.

“They are all dead, Doctor.” The alien hissed. “There is no one here to save but us.”

Jess watched the hope drain from the Doctor's eyes, to be filled with anger, to be filled with pain. His response had not been what she'd focused on, though. It had been the phrase the alien had used. Save them. Suddenly, things seemed to make sense for her.

“Doctor!” She screamed, almost launching herself off the catwalk, leaning as far over the rails as she possibly could “Doctor, wait! There's another way!”

The Doctor's eyes lit up when he saw Jess, but the resolute expression stood on his face.

“No.” He told her. “There isn't. I offered my help and they turned it down. They threatened me, they threatened someone I care about, and they threatened humanity.” He turned to look back at the leader of the aliens. “And if they don't surrender, they will be...ended.”

Jess groaned, shaking her head. She ran down the catwalk, trying to find a way down. Instead, one of the aliens had scaled the wall and jumped onto the catwalk in front of her. She screamed as the footwalk shuddered beneath them, cracking with the weight.

“Jess!” The Doctor screamed her name, but the sudden jerk he made when he started, on instinct, to run for her, cause the wires in his arms to pull and his knees buckled him to the ground.

“Doctor!” Jess screamed back. The catwalk had given way beneath her, and she'd grabbed onto the railing, hanging on as tightly as she could. The rest of the catwalk crashed to the ground, taking the alien with it. The monster screeched and hissed, going silent and still moments after.

“See what you've done?” The Doctor screamed at the other aliens. “No one needed to die here tonight! I could have helped you!”

The leader hissed, jumped at the Doctor. Jess screamed, watching and unable to help. The Doctor wrapped himself in the wires to jump out of the way, running from the alien and trying to figure out how to fix this mess.

Jess's arms hurt. She felt the sting of the bandage on her arm, glanced at it to see the blood seeping through the bandage. She whimpered, trying to get a better grip. Her eyes squeezed tightly, and she took a deep breath.

She let go of the bar, hearing the Doctor's scream in her ears, drowned out by her own scream when she landed. Her feet hit the stage first and she rolled, landing in a pile of debris up against the body of a dead alien.

She opened her eyes, peeking out to see if she were still alive. She smiled when she'd found she was, and jumped to her feet. She screamed out again, looking down. Her ankle was bent at an odd direction, broken. She looked up, seeing the Doctor staring at her, trying to get to her despite the wires and the alien trying to kill him.

Jess ignored the pain. If there was one thing she was good at doing, it was ignoring the pain. She grabbed the nearest long object, a part of the railing, and she jammed it under her arm. The makeshift crutch even hurt a little bit, but it made getting to the Doctor even faster.

She jumped between him and the alien as it were about to strike and, balanced on her good foot, she swung the rod right at the alien's face. It jumped back and Jess growled.

“This stops NOW!” She screamed, her back to the Doctor as her eyes flashed gold.

The aliens stopped, their leader paused halfway through an attack and he looked at her, all eyes narrowed.

Jess spoke again, her voice in tears. “We wanted to help you.” She told them. “Isn't that what you want, help? Have you really been stranded here for so long that you've forgotten the good in you?”

“Jess?” The Doctor gasped for air, trying to stand up but only falling back down.

Jess turned to look at him, tears in her eyes. She lowered herself to the floor and pulled him gently to her, placing his head in her lap. His coat discarded, shirt torn. She touched tenderly at the spot where the wires had been forced crudely beneath his skin.

“You kept them alive, you remember? You kept me alive.” She looked up at the leader, at all the aliens. “You didn't want to kill them then, but why are you so keen on killing him now?”

“It is the only way.” The leader hissed.

“It's not.” Jess shook her head, fingers running through the Doctor's hair. The pain was starting to get to her, her vision starting to blur. “We can help, and no one else has to die. I swear to you on all I hold dear, on the very words of the play we were to perform. You remember that, don't you? How every day you would take time out of trying to fix your ship to perform and to practice, why?”

“The arts are a great honor to perform on our world.” The alien hissed, anger no longer apparent in his voice.

Jess smiled, wiping away her tears with a blood stained hand. Hers, and the Doctor's. She looked back down at him. “They only wanted to go home, Doctor.” She told him. “They were scared and desperate, so please forgive them?”

She met his eyes, and her vision finally went black.

  
  


The Doctor laid, helpless, while the alien advanced on him. The wires in his arms had finally taken over his nervous system and left him completely immobile. Jess had passed out next to him, and the alien was approaching.

“You can help?” It asked him, and he nodded.

“Yes. Yes I can.” He glanced at Jess. “But please, release me. I have to save her, first. I promise you, I will help you, just let me save her first.”

The alien leaned in close to him, its eight eyes blinking – an none in unison. Instead of speaking, the creature reached over with one hand, if it could be called a hand, and yanked the wires out of his arm. The Doctor screamed, and again when he yanked out the ones on the other side.

The alien jumped back as soon as the Doctor had regained movement. He jumped up, but spun immediately to Jess's side, scooping her up in his arms.

He looked at the aliens. “Let me out of this room.” He told them. “I have to get her back to that blue box upstairs. As soon as she's safely inside, I'll come back. I promise.”

The leader nodded his head and gave a hiss. Three of the others pulled the great weight from one of the doors and held them open. The Doctor nodded and ran out of the room.

He ran right up the stairs and straight into the med bay of the TARDIS without stopping. He laid her carefully on the bed and then panicked. The TARDIS would not how him her scans, so he did everything the old fashioned way.

He pressed her head to her chest and checked her heartbeat, too panicked and hurried to think of using his fingers. Her heartbeat was weak, but not in the danger zone. He checked her over, finding the cut on her arm. This he repaired easily with a healing patch to accelerate the healing. Within ten minutes, the cut was sterilized and healed, leaving no scars.

The ankle, however, was the more difficult part. He had to set it back in place, which he knew would hurt a lot. Good thing she was already passed out then, he thought. He set her ankle and wrapped another patch around it. Around that, he taped some gauze, and then dug out an old boot, black and made of hard plastic. Something he'd had from when Sarah Jane Smith had broken her leg and refused to let him use his superior Time Lord science to heal her. Just as an extra precaution in case he didn't set it right. The TARDIS wouldn't show him an x-ray to see what the bone looked like and he'd had to feel by hand.

He sighed when that was done with, looking down at her as he stuck a tiny needle into her vein. He pushed the pain medicine into her blood stream and carefully placed the band aid over the tiny dot.

“Jess...” He brushed his fingers through her hair. “If you don't get better, one hundred percent. I'm going to come back and find these people and I'm going to end every last one of them.” His eyes darted up and down her face, oh how she looked like Rose. He frowned. “I'm sorry that I got you into this mess.”

With that, he turned away from her, afraid he'd let himself fall back into those dark thoughts. He couldn't have Rose on his mind. Jess was not Rose, and he had an alien ship to repair.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Jess leaned against the crutch she'd found in the med bay when she'd woken up. Her arm had been sore and her leg was fitted with a boot, and her head swam. At least she wasn't feeling much pain.

Now, she stood in the control room of the alien's ship while the Doctor had his head stuck inside one of the great panels. She could occasionally hear the whirring of tools and the humming of the Sonic Screwdriver.

She'd activated the cloaking on her own Sonic Device before she'd climbed up the catwalk. Before she'd walked out of the TARDIS, she'd checked to make sure it wasn't broken or anything. Then she'd went in search for the Doctor and found him wiring up the ship.

He pulled himself out of the panel and slipped the cover back on it, Sonic-ing it back into place. When he turned around, she was grinning at him.

He frowned at her. She giggled.

“What's so...funny?” He asked.

“Nothing.” He hobbled along beside him as he walked out of the space ship. They went through the portal and back into the auditorium.

She could tell that he was walking slower, just to keep up with her. He seemed to be watching her carefully, afraid that any movement she made would collapse her or something. It was sweet, but it was making the repairing process take longer than it needed.

The captured actors had returned and were helping out. Though they didn't have a clue what was going on, Annabelle had assumed control of the group and gotten them all clearing up the debris that had fallen in the Doctor's fight with the aliens. The aliens, some of them stayed up on their ship and others stayed behind in the auditorium to help the Doctor. He ran back and forth between both places, following a large coil of cords.

Jess dropped herself into the front row of seats, trying to catch her breath. The Doctor jumped up onto the stage and started tinkering some more, running back and forth across the large machine he'd been hooked up to only hours before.

“Just a few more adjustments.” He called out to her. “Got to get the TARDIS down here for the last bit, just hook her up and we'll be able to quantum fold the energy of the time vortex through the corporal manipulator I've hooked up to the Booster Jump and retrovate the calibrator for their engines, and that ship will run for a thousand years before it'll need to refuel!”

Jess giggled. The Doctor seemed so excited to be doing this. All the scientific stuff put aside, the Doctor was going to jump start the space ship using the TARDIS. He just had to hook it up through all of the crazy engines to turn the time vortex energy into a usable form of energy for their ship.

He tinkered with a few more things and then jumped off the stage, right in front of Jess. “Come on, let's get back to the TARDIS.”

“Can't I just sit right here?” She asked him. “I don't want to walk back up all those stairs. I'm tired.”

The Doctor frowned and glanced at the aliens, still following his instructions and messing with wires and dials. “Will you be okay?”

“Of course, go get the TARDIS.” She brushed him off, and though he didn't want to go, he dashed upstairs.

The second he was out of the room, the TARDIS materialized right on the stage. She couldn't help another laugh, but this one pulled a cough out of her. She'd breathed too much smoke from the machines, her lungs would have ached if the Doctor wouldn't have given her pain medication.

He jumped from the doors and grabbed a bunch of wires, dragging them inside the TARDIS. Jess rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She let herself rest, trying to get the dizziness to fade from her mind. She hated pain medicine, but she knew his mind wasn't calm enough right now for her to be telling him that.

She fell asleep, though she didn't mean to. When she woke up, it was the the whirring of engines. Her eyes opened to find the room empty. The doors of the TARDIS stood open.

She pulled herself up and limped up the stairs and into the ship. The Doctor buzzed around the console, feeding power through the machine. She smiled, sitting in the jump seat.

“It's done.” He spoke, finally, after ten or so minutes of working at the console. “The ship is up and running, they've disconnected the cables, and...” He paused, waiting for the loud roaring from above them. “They're headed out of the atmosphere and back to Helionic Septa.”

“They're from Helionic Septa?” She asked.

He glanced back at her, a smile on his face, a knowing smirk. She chuckled.

“So, what now?” She asked, watching his energy drain from him as he dropped a lever and stopped the feed of energy.

He spun around, leaning against the console. “That girl, Annabelle, is going to take care of everything on this end. In a few years, the great fire will come through and the engine beneath the stage will be destroyed. No evidence to be found. All we've got to do, is leave.”

“Leave.” Jess spoke, glancing up at him. “Doctor...”

He glanced up at her, and she gave a soft sigh. “Are you alright?”

“Of course I'm alright.” He responded. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“They hooked you up to the machine, Doctor....” She pointed to his arms, the bloodstains on his torn shirt.

He grinned, however, and pulled up the arms of his shirt up to reveal unblemished skin. “Perfectly fine. Fixed myself right up, no problem.”

She nodded, and then opened her mouth to speak once more, but the words wouldn't come. She shut her mouth again and breathed softly, watching the Doctor spin around and gather the wires up, unhooking them from the TARDIS.

The Doctor finished his work and they said goodbye to the new friends they had made. Then they got back on the TARDIS and set a course back into the time vortex. Silence had surrounded them for quite some time before she finally spoke again.

“I know that look on your face, you know.” She told him, playing with the straps of the boot on her leg. She glanced up at him.

“Look?” She twisted a lever and grimaced at her. “What look? I don't have a look.”

“Regret.” She spoke the word softly, not meeting his eyes. “I can see it in your face. You're regretting.”

“Regret?” He ran to the other side of the console and flipped another switch. “What do I have to regret? I haven't done anything.”

Jess smiled. “Exactly.” She looked up at him. “You were going to kill them, Doctor.”

She watched as his eyes darkened. “They threatened to kill you, first.”

She laughed, a genuine laugh. “You were worried about me, then?”

He looked up at the screen, not meeting her eyes, but eventually he let out a little “Yeah.”

Jess hoisted herself up off the seat and limped to the Doctor. He refused to look at her, until she placed her hand over the top of his and gave it a small squeeze.

“Don't worry about me, Doctor.” She told him, a sadness creeping into her voice. “You needn't ever worry about me.”

This was what caused him to finally look at her, to meet her eyes with an expression of confusion and sadness and emotions she couldn't put names to. “Why not?” He asked. “You must know that I...”

She stopped him before he could go on to finish his sentence. “Worry for Amy, for Rory, worry about the people you've left behind and how they're doing now. Worry about whether the TARDIS is going to breakdown again when we're nine thousand miles from the nearest planet infested with Gobgoons. But, for the love of all things sacred, Doctor. Don't worry about me. Save that for things that matter.”

“Jessica...” He breathed out her name, his hand twisting in hers to take hold of it. “Are you saying you don't matter?”

She laughed, giving him her best smile. “I'm saying that there are better things to worry about than me.”

He shook his head. “You are, truly...”

“An anomaly?” She finished, with a grin.

He nodded, but his smile faded into a serious expression. “I was going to kill them.”

“But you didn't.”

“You stopped me.” He looked up at her again, smiling once more. “You saved them all.”

“They were scared, Doctor.” She told him, not resisting when he helped her back to the jump seat. He took a seat and sat next to her. “Their ship broke down and they'd been here for so long, trying to find a way to get it running again. When we showed up, they go so excited, they could finally go home! Wouldn't you make a few mistakes if you'd finally been presented with the ability to go home?”

She knew this wasn't something she shouldn't have said when she saw his face darken, his eyes burning with a sadness unlike any she'd seen before. It only reminded her that on this world, the Doctor had no home. Her heart ached for him.

“You saved them.” He told her. “You stopped me, but I would have killed them.”

“But you didn't.” She repeated, and she took his hand in her own, smiling. “You saved them, Doctor.”

This caused him to smile. They sat together in silence for a while, before he spoke.

His expression serious, he looked at her. “Jessica, they took you. They could have hurt you. And when I saw you fell off that catwalk..I thought you died.”

“But I'm fine.” She responded.

“How do I know that?” He asked, looking at her. “The TARDIS won't let me see your scans so I don't know if you've got an infection from the cut on your arm. I've no idea if I set your ankle right. I had to do that by touch because I couldn't see your x-rays. Who knows what else might be wrong, and I can't do anything....if something serious had happened to you....” He paused, taking in a deep breath, and then looked at her sideways. “I've no way of fixing it.”

Jess laughed, finding it funnier than it needed to be. “Then why don't we just do what normal people do when they're injured?”

“What's that?” The Doctor asked, genuinely curious.

“Take me to the hospital!” She laughed.

“Oh!” The Doctor grinned, jumping up out of his seat. “Let's go back for Amy and Rory, then. Rory can have a look at you at his hospital.”

Jess agreed, and the Doctor jumped up to the console, setting course for Amy and Rory's house, four months after they'd last left.

 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, filler, really, I guess. Sort of.

“Doctor!” Amy jumped into his arms the moment he walked out of the TARDIS.

Jess followed, limping on her crutch, smile on her face. Until Rory, who came out with a dish rag over his shoulder, noticed her set up.

“Doctor, what did you do to her?” He gasped, rushing forward.

“Oh, I'm fine.” She laughed when he quickly set her down in a lawn chair.

Amy frowned, arms over her chest after she released the Doctor from their hug. “What happened?”

“Run in with some Dekkalarians in 1794.” The Doctor told them. “She...sort of...fell.”

Jess laughed. “I'm fine, really. The Doctor did a great job on it. It barely hurts at all.”

“That's because of the pain medication I gave you.”He snapped. “We're back in a time with decent health care, will you please just go to the hospital?”

Jess sighed. “I thought you said Rory could look at it.”

“Oh, alright.” He frowned, turning to Amy. “Oh, you should have seen some of the things we got ourselves into!” He clapped, ready to tell her all about their adventures.

Rory took the boot off Jess's leg and unstuck the patch from her ankle.

“How is it?” Jess asked, looking down and watching as Rory inspected her ankle.

“Does this hurt?” He asked, pressing against a spot.

She winced. “Not too bad. Sort of like...being poked with a needle?”

Rory nodded. He continued to prod gently at her ankle, nodding softly and in the end, smiling. He replaced the boot and stood back up, turning to the Doctor.

“She's going to be fine.” He told her. “It'll heal in another day or two. The patch from the TARDIS did wonders.”

Jess grinned. “See, Doctor. I'm just fine.”

He nodded, frowning, though his eyes seemed happy.

“So.” Jess stood back up, without the use of the crutch this time. “Where should we head off to now?”

“No where.” the Doctor pointed out. “We're going to spend some time here. We'll leave when your leg's healed.” He glanced to Amy and Rory, then back to Jess. “The amount of trouble we always get into, it would be bad if one of us were injured. You can't run.”

He looked, sounded, completely offended by the fact that she couldn't run. Jess found that hilarious, and began laughing. This caused him to laugh, which caused the Ponds to laugh, and then everyone was just all laughing together.

Amy and the Doctor talked, decided that they'd have a sleep over for a few days, and then bust about back into space. The time was spent rather boringly, if the Doctor had anything to say about it.

He'd tucked himself back into the TARDIS, playing with parts of the console. Amy had let Jess inside the house, simply to be nice to her on the Doctor's insistence. Rory made them a nice cup of tea.

Amy sat down in front of Jess, as she and Rory were talking about her adventures with the Doctor.

“So, he completely talked his way right past the Head of Security, talking bananas. I mean, literally, talking bananas. Just repeating the word 'bananas' over and over again. Don't even know how he did it, but in the end, he saved the planet, talking about bananas.”

“Funny.” Amy said, though she didn't sound amused. Jess and Rory looked right at her, and she continued to speak. “We need to talk.”

“You don't trust me.” Jess said, looking at Amy. She could see it in here eyes. She sighed. “I don't know what else I can do to prove that I'm not here to do him harm.”

“You said there was a Master.” Amy said, eyes narrowing at Jess. “You said that he was coming for the Doctor. Well, it's been months, and we haven't heard from him yet. Where is he? Why isn't he coming?”

Jess opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, another voice came from behind them. “He's the Master. He will come when he's ready and not a moment before, but that's the least of your worries. You should just be glad he hasn't shown himself yet.”

The three of them turned to see the Doctor leaning in the doorway. He had a serious expression on his face, one that usually got swept away moments later by a smile and a burst of childlike energy. This time there was none. He walked somberly to the couch and sat down beside Jess, looking at Amy carefully.

“Doctor.” She'd asked. “Who is the Master?”

“He was my childhood friend.” The Doctor spoke, a gentle smile on his face. His eyes glazed over with remembering. “He was driven insane by the untempered skism. Driven mad by it. And, well, basically ever since then, he's been trying to kill me.”

Jess bit her lip, the cover story coming to her mind. “He came to my world, another fifteen or twenty years in your future, looking for my mum. He's been searching down anyone who knew the Doctor, or in mum's case, knew someone who knew the Doctor. Since dad traveled with him and all.”

“What happened?” Rory asked, and Jess looked at him sadly. It was the first time they'd actually asked what happened.

The Doctor turned a guilty, sad smile to her.

“He found us. My mum, me, and her husband. We refused to give up the Doctor.” She glanced at Amy when she said this. “Without the Doctor, my mum and dad never would have met. Without the Doctor, I never would have been born.” She told the truth when she said this. In so many ways. “We couldn't give him up. Never.” Her eyes moved to the Doctor when she said this bit. “My mum and I, we'd tear the universes apart to save the Doctor.”

“How'd you get away?” Amy asked, seeming actually curious.

Jess looked away from them all, looked down at her hands and played with her fingers. “I didn't.” She admitted. “Not really, but that's not important. I hopped on the first ship I could, stole myself a vortex manipulator, and crashed myself in Torchwood. Found my dad, caught up with the Doctor, and here we are.”

Amy narrowed her eyes at Jess, but then her expression changed at whatever she saw. She stood up and cleared her throat. “I'm going to get more tea. Does anyone want more tea?”

“I'll have another.” Rory spoke up.

When she came back, they were talking about the planet Aeskbora. The Doctor had yet to take them there, but Jess had read about it and was telling Rory all about the great spired cities rising up out of the seas of crimson water. The sky of the deepest purples and the twin moons that could be reached by shuttles. The smaller of the moons held the planet's best opera house, if that's what they called the house where they had musical performances.

Two days later, Jess took her boot off. She could walk normally once more, with no pain, and though the Doctor refused to stop acting like she'd had the entire leg cut off, the four of them stepped back inside the TARDIS and went to visit the planet Aeskbora.

 


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This next adventure is a rewrite of The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People. (because I liked that adventure, and I thought it would be a fun way to tie the fic in with the canon)

  Jess laid across the cream colored jump seat, feet propped over the arm of it like a comfy recliner. She had a book in her hands, Advanced Quantum Mechanics. Not that she truly understood what she was reading, but it was fascinating all the same.

Loud music, some band she didn't really like, played over the TARDIS's controls. She recalled hearing it on a movie at some point, she thought the band's name was Muse. Not that she cared. Obviously.

Rory practiced his darts in the corner of the room, playing with Amy. The two argued about scores. Jess had been ignoring them for quite some time to focus on her book, but before that had attempted a throw or two of her own. The Doctor had been surprised that she had such good aim with a bow and arrow, but could hardly throw a dart to save her life. That had been when she'd stopped and sat down with a book she'd found tucked under the control panel.

She had been fully aware that the Doctor was once again trying to read her bio-scans on the TARDIS's screens. She knew the TARDIS wouldn't give her up, so she didn't care.

Then, rather suddenly, a blaring alarm rang through the console room. Jess lowered her book. Amy and Rory looked at the Doctor, but no one had time to ask what was going on before a great shaking hit them.

Amy, Rory, and the Doctor were thrown against the railings of the platform. Jess barely had time to grab onto the arms of the chair and hold herself down. The book went flying from her lap as the TARDIS shook and trembled, its screens flashing warnings.

“Solar Tunami.” The Doctor spoke, pulling himself to the control panel to look at the screens. “Came directly from your sun. A tidal wave of radiation.” He grabbed a lever and thrust it down. “Big. Big. Big.”

The other scrambled to find something to hold onto while the Doctor started dancing around the control rooms, the TARDIS lost in the waves of the tsunami. He got the TARDIS stabilized enough that they could stand once more and called out. “Assume the positions!”

Four screaming people looked around quickly, and then darted to safe spots, dropping to their knees and covering their heads. Jess stayed where she was and did it.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the shaking stopped. The alarms dissipated. The music had stopped.

The Doctor stood, as the others tried to gain their bearings. “Textbook landing.” He gave a childlike grin.

“Behold.” he stated, opening the TARDIS door and stepping out a few moments after the landing. “A cockerel. Love a cockeral. And underneath, a monestary.”

He turned to look at the three who had followed him out. “Thirteenth century.”

“Oh.” Amy smiled, “We've gone all Medieval.”

“I'm not sure about that.” Jess responded, glancing over at her, and then to the Doctor. The two shared a giddy smile for the smallest of moments.

“Oh?” Amy shot her a short glare. “Medieval expert, are you?”

“No.” Rory responded, stepping up beside Amy. “Don't you hear the music? Dusty Springfield.”

The group looked around curiously before they started following the Doctor, who had already begun to wander off.

They found him squatting before a gaping hole, a great white pipe exposed.

“These fissures are new.” He stated, looking at them curiously. “The solar tsunamie sent out a huge wave of gamma particles. This was caused by a magnetic quake that occured just before the wave hit.”

“At least the monetary is still standing.” Jess responded, glancing up at it's walls as she knelt beside the Doctor, glad she'd picked an old pair of Converse for this trip rather than the heeled leather boots she'd worn in Aeskbora.

“Yeah.” Amy responded to her comment. “For now.”

“Doctor.” Rory called their attention to the words on the pipe, printed in large letters. DANGER.

“It's a supply pipe.” The Doctor informed them, pulsating his Sonic Screwdriver over it. “Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. Their pumping something nasty off this island. To the Mainland.” He'd stood up and turned around, looking out over the vast water to the distant shore of the mainland.

Jess stood as well, dusting off the knees of her jeans. “So, shall we, then?” She asked.

The Doctor turned to her. “Right! Let's go!”

“Go where?” Amy asked, as if she didn't know what the answer would be.

The Doctor had already started running towards the entrance to the old stone building, Jess close on his heels.

“To satisfy our rabid curiosity!” He laughed, disappearing through the great arch.

“So where are they, then?” Jess asked, Amy and Rory close on their heels as they explored the inner workings of the ruins, following the wooden railings that seemed to be woven through the building, following a network of pipes. “The Dusty Springfield loving monks.”

“Dunno.” The Doctor responded, and just then, Rory pressed his hand against a pipe, resting to catch his breath after having almost been left behind by the Doctor and the girls.

“Careful.” The Doctor pointed at the pipe. “Acid. They're pumping acid off this island. That's old stuff, if it were new, you wouldn't have a finger.”

Just at the moment, before anyone could even ask questions, an alarm began to blare, a great booming voice stating intruders. The Doctor walked through the tunnel a bit, and then turned to them, Sonic in hand.

“There are people coming.” He stated, more calmly that he probably should have been. “Well, almost.”

“Almost coming?” Amy asked.

“Almost people.” The Doctor responded, checking the Sonic's display.

Jess grinned, and the Doctor grinned. The two took off running, down the corridor. Rory frowned, making an ignored comment about leaving before Amy set off after the two, ushering him on.

They ran, twisting around corners and through doors. It seemed the Doctor knew where he was going, or else he knew the layout of this building. He didn't seem to hesitate as he took them into a great round room. Almost round, more octagonal. It held a set of harnesses, each with a person strapped into it.

Amy skidded to a halt. “What are all these harnesses for?” She questioned, but she quickly kept running through the room as she and Rory discussed what they could be for and what they were doing. Jess said nothing as she glanced at them, catching up with the Doctor.

They all skidded to a halt as they ran out of room in the room. The Doctor turned around just as Amy asked.

“Are they prisoners, or meditating, or what?” and he responded, with a flourish of hands.

“Well, at the moment, they fall into the 'or what' category.”

“What's going on, Doctor?” Jess asked, glancing curiously at him.

“Halt, and remain calm.” A sudden loud voice came to them.

“Well, we've halted.” The Doctor spoke, a great amount of sarcasm in his voice. “How are we all doing on the calm thing?”

“Fine, thanks for asking.” Jess responded, just as a group of people ran into the room, weapons brandished.

Jess was sure the Doctor had known before she had, but she realized almost immediately. The people before her were exact copies of the people in the harnesses. She realized, then, what he'd meant by “almost” people.

“Who the hell are you?” A woman named Jen asked, after a short debate about whether the four were dangerous.

“Well, I'm the Doctor. And this is Amy and Rory. And Jess.” The Doctor spoke up, his voice with a hit of glee in it. “And it's all very nice, isn't it?”

“Hold up.” Amy stated, looking from the harnesses to the group surrounding them with great, odd spears. “You're all....what are you...like identical twins?”

“This is an alpha-grade industrial facility.” An older woman, well older than the one called Jen, who appeared to not be out of her twenties yet, spoke up. She had the heir of authority that showed herself as the boss. She had walked out of another hallway with a fifth person, these two wearing brass colored suits of metal, as compared to the glaringly orange uniforms of the others. “Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetsan, you are in big trouble.”

“Actually, You're in big trouble.” The Doctor stated, his voice darkening the way it did when there was danger. He pulled his physic paper from his inner pocket and brandished it in her face, much like Jen and the other with their spears.

“Meteorological Department?” The boss looked up into the Doctor's eyes with confusion and distrust in her face. “Since when?”

“Since you were hit by a solar wave.” The Doctor responded.

“Which we survived.” She snapped.

“Just barely, by the look of it.” He said seriously, tucking the paper away. “And there's a bigger one on the way.”

“Which we'll also survive.” She stated with a defiant raise of her eyebrows.

She ordered one of her men to scan for bugs, and the four travelers obeyed. Pressing their backs against the wall, they let the man run the scanner past them while the Doctor continued to talk with this woman. Once the scans showed they were safe, and the woman was satisfied with the Doctor's ID, he demanded to see their critical systems.

Jess's eyebrows rose at this, especially when more than one set were mentioned. Something was up, she knew. And as the group lead them through the halls, she leaned over to the Doctor and whispered something to him.

“We didn't come here by accident, did we?” She asked.

  
  


  
  



	19. Chapter Ninteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so long, so much more left to go! you'll recall most of this, I'm hoping (as I'm watching the episode as I write, and changing as little as I can XD)

The group were lead into a great room, arching ceiling and covered windows. In the center of the room rested a great bowl. Jess grimaced at the sound of bubbling liquid.

The Doctor's first move was to look at the stuff inside the bowl, the great whitish stuff. Jess could hardly call it liquid once she looked into it. It looked more like pudding than anything. Or rubber, the kind used to mold Barbie dolls, like the ones she never played with as a child.

“Meet the government's worst kept secret.” The woman said. “The Flesh.”

Jess's eyes widened at the name of the stuff inside the bowl. Flesh. Fully programmable matter. They listened to the woman talk about the stuff. Self replicating, programmable flesh. She talked about it's ability to replicate.

“Everything's the same.” She'd said. “Eyes, face.”

“Mind, soul.” The Doctor interrupted, forlornly, looking into the great vat of flesh.

“Don't be fooled, Doctor.” She said his name with such malice. “It acts like life, but it still needs to be controlled by us.”

“Wait.” Rory stated. “You're flesh now?”

The woman nodded. “I'm laying in my harness back in the other room. We're all flesh, except Jennifer here. It's like operating a fork-lift truck.”

“You said it grows.” The Doctor spoke up once more. “Only living things grow.”

“Moss grows.” she snapped back at him. “It's no more than that.”

She went on to explain why they used the flesh, as if it were perfectly normal to create a replica of your own body and mind to dispose of as you pleased. Just because the job was dangerous. Jess frowned. They even called them “gangers.” How crude.

As the crew began to explain to them how the 'Gangers' worked, Jess watched the Doctor pull his Sonic from his pocket and wave it over the bowl. Amy and Rory seemed vastly more interested in what the crew had to say. The woman ordered Jennifer to get back inside of her 'ganger' and moments after she exited, all eyes went to the Doctor.

His Sonic whirred, and he tugged against it, as if he were being pulled into the vat of flesh. “Stop it!” He called out, pulling hard until he was released. He looked up at the others. “Strange....for a moment, I thought it was trying to scan me.”

“Doctor.” The woman warned. He'd reached his hand over the bowl, as if to touch the stuff.

“Oh Doctor, that's gross.” Jess rolled her eyes as he placed his hand right in the stuff. His eyes closed and he seemed to be communicating with it, or feeling it. Jess never knew what was going on with him.

When he pulled away, he seemed shocked. He started rambling on about how the flesh was alive. The woman began to argue with him, but all Jess could think about was the chaos that was going to ensue. How could it not, with a group of people making clones of themselves out of living flesh.

A loud crash of thunder came, Jess stiffened. God, did she hate thunder.

“It's the solar storm.” The Doctor announced, as if everyone had forgotten what brought them there in the first place. Though Jess wasn't certain if they'd landed their because of the storm, or because the Doctor wanted them to. “The first waves always come in pairs.”

The Doctor warned them to leave, before the storm got too bad. The boss, however, refused to stop their work. Jen was about to jump into her ganger and they were going to get a first hand view of a ganger being formed.

Jess leaned over the empty part of the vat, almost like a great white bathtub. The flesh pumped into it through a small hole.

“Gross.” Jess muttered under her breath again.

They stared into the creamy goo as a face began to appear, similar at first to Jen's, and then forming more fully, clothes as well, until she gasped and sat up inside the tub.

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. “Well, I can see why you keep it in a church.” He muttered.

“Right.” He was ignored by the boss. “We need to get back to work, then.”

Another crash of thunder had Jess biting her lip and looking at the Doctor desperately.

“Have I mentioned the solar storm?” He asked them, trying once more. “You need to get out of here.” He even offered to take them off the island himself, but they refused to leave.

He implored them to at least prepare for the storm, but Jess could tell that this leader of theirs was going to be a pain in the ass. The Doctor demanded directions to the monitoring station. Jess looked to Amy and Rory before the three of them followed him out of the room.

By the time they made it to the monitoring station, bells were ringing off, the ground quaked beneath them, and the Doctor was going on a mile a minute about the dangers of the storm.

He jumped into the doorway. “I've got to get to that cockeral, before all hell breaks loose.” He spun around, a boyish grin on his face and a giggle to go along with it. “I never thought I'd have to say that again.” He sounded so pleased with himself that for a moment, Jess forgot the thunder and rolled her eyes at him.

A short moment passed as he let the words sink it, and then he darted out of the room, making his way through to the outer endge of the building, into a courtyard. Jess followed, quick on his heels, to see the outside.

She'd expected clouds and rain and lightening. Instead, she got a great orange fire in the sky, thrashing lightening and electricity bursting into the air, tendrils of clouds dissolving into storm and rage above them. Chaos surrounded them. Inside the building, Jess could hear pipes bursting, acid pumping into the halls. From the outside, as well, she could see the ground shaking and acid spewing up from the ground. Steam billowed around them. Her heart beat in time with the constant whirring of the alarm.

She'd wanted to follow the Doctor, but he'd told her to stand back as he ran to the spire and began to climb up the weather main. She squinted into the distance to see him, watching as he pulled open a panel and began to mess with the wiring. Suddenly, lightening stuck the metal rooster and the Doctor screamed as he was thrown from the ladder.

“Doctor!” Jess screamed, running after him, jumping over a growing stream of acid in the grass. She dropped down to her knees by his side, checking him over. A great flash and thunder came over them, and Jess found herself knocked to the ground, blacked out.

The Doctor woke up first, jolting awake. He turned to Jess and shook her gently, though she already groaned and rubbed her head. She looked at him, confused and dazed.

“We need to find the others.” The Doctor jumped to his feet. He took Jess's hand and ran, through the halls and down a spiraling staircase.

“Cleaves!” He called, finding the leader. “You're not in your harness!”

“I'm sorry, Doctor.” She looked at the two of them. “You were right.”

“You've lost all power to the factory.” He told her. She rambled on about abandoning her team. Jess frowned at this, but followed the two of them as they began walking.

“How long were you knocked out?” The Doctor asked.

“I don't know.” She'd told them. “Not long. A minute, Two minutes?”

Jess dazed in and out of the conversation, her mind on the distant thunder, the lack of alarms (something she was relieved of) and the way her hand felt all clammy wrapped inside the Doctor's.

“A lot can go wrong in an hour.” He spoke darkly, and pulled her along again.

“We've been out for an hour?” Jess questioned, looking at the Doctor, wide eyed.

He didn't answer, but instead ran through the corridors, not releasing her hand until they made their way into the harness room. Amy and Rory were already inside. Rory had his arms wrapped around Jen while the others struggled to get out of their harnesses.

“Once the link is severed, the gangers return to pure flesh.” Cleaves responded to a question about where they were.

Jess focused on something else. “Does anyone hear that?”

“That's my record. Who's playing my record?” one of the crew, asked.

“You gangers.” the Doctor said, looking around at the crew. “They've gone walk about.”

Cleaves ranted on about the impossibilities, but the music only grew louder and stopped her. The Doctor looked at her, and they shared a serious look before running off.

They were lead into a room, a record playing music in the corner. Food, still on the table, and a precariously stacked tower of cards at the far end of the table. The room was a mess.

“It would seem the storm has animated your gangers.” The Doctor announced, sitting himself down at the head of the table. Jess pulled up a chair at the other end.

“They've ransacked the place.” Cleaves said, looking around.

“Not ransacked.” Jess responded, looking at her sideways. “Searched.”

“Through our stuff?” She sounded offended.

“Their stuff.” The Doctor responded.

“Searching?” The one named Jimmy asked. “Searching for what?”

“Confirmation.” The Doctor answered. “They need to know their memories are real.”

“Oh, so they've got flaming memories now.” He snapped in anger.

Jess spun in her seat, watching everyone as the Doctor went on to talk about the gangers, when the creatures had been accused of stealing the crew's lives.

“No.” The Doctor had answered. “Bequeathed. You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, memories, secrets. You gave them your lives, and your lives are amazing.” He paused, eyes darting to Jess before looking back at the others. “Are you surprised they walked off with them?”

Jess rolled her eyes once more as the group panicked, going on about a ganger on the isle of Sheffield. About whether they could maintain form or not without the crew plugged into them. Jess noticed Jen paling as the spoke.

“Are you alright?” Rory asked, noticing as well.

“I feel funny.” Jen answered. “I feel sick. I need the washroom.” She glanced at them all before running, darting through the room and out a door.

Rory gave Amy a look, part nervous and part concerned. “I'll come with you.” He called, and ran after her. Jess didn't miss the narrowed eyes that Amy shot at him as he walked out. Even if it was only momentary, and knocked off her face moments later by a loud sneeze.

The Doctor inspected the card tower in front of him. Jess watched, feet kicked up on the table. He looked at Buzzer. “Who taught you to do this?”

“Me grandad.” The man answered.

“Well, your ganger's granddad taught him to do it too.” The Doctor answered, as if making a point. “You both have the same childhood memories, just as clear. Just as real.”

Buzzer looked at the Doctor, trying to process the information. Refusing to believe that there was another creature who thought it was him. He shook his head and smashed the card tower.

“They're out there scared.” The Doctor continued speaking. “They're disorientated, struggling to come to terms with an entire life in their heads.”

Jess looked up at him. He met her eyes. She saw a darkness in it that startled her. Something she hadn't been expecting. She pulled her feet to the ground and sat up straighter in her seat, crossing her arms as she rested against the table.

She watched as the Doctor stood up and started wandering around the room. The crew gathered around the table, discussing what was going on. They spoke as if Jess wasn't there, or wasn't part of the conversation. She ignored them, watching the Doctor through a gap in their bodies.

“We need to protect ourselves.” Jimmy stated.

The Doctor placed a plastic bowl of soup on a plate, shoving it in the microwave.

“Are you a violent man, Jimmy?” He asked.

“No.”

“Then why would the other Jimmy be?” He asked, messing with the dials on the machine.

Cleaves turned around and frowned. “Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this.” She said.

The Doctor turned around, leaning against the counter. He looked at Cleaves. “You told me you were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves.” He stated. “When, in fact, it was an hour.”

“Sorry.” She said. “I just assumed...”

The Doctor interrupted her. “Well, it's not your fault. Like I said, they were disorientated. Amy, when you got to the alcoves, who was in their harness?”

Everyone looked at Amy. She stuttered before she spoke, while the Doctor busied himself with grabbing an oven mit and pulling the plate from the microwave.

“Um. Jimmy and Dickens were helping Buzzer out.”

“Jennifer?” He asked.

“She was standing on her own when we got to her.”

The Doctor spun around with the plate and handed it to Cleaves. She took it, holding onto it as the Doctor looked at her expectantly.

“It's hot.” He told her, and only then did she seem to react, hissing in pain and dropping the plate to smash on the ground. “The transmatter's still a little wobbly. The nerve endings are not quite fused properly.” He started speaking while Cleaves looked up at him with disbelief and fear written into her features.

This was the Flesh, not the original Cleaves.

“What are you talking about?” She pulled her hand away from the Doctor angrily.

“It's okay.” He pressed.

“No, stop it!” She yelled at him. “Youre playing stupid games, stop it!” She turned her back on him, staring down at her hand in shock.

He hesitantly walked up behind her. Jess frowned, sitting on the edge of her seat. “Please, you don't have to hide. Trust me. I'm the Doctor.”

Cleaves turned around, hissing at the Doctor. Her face had changed, morphed into something grotesque, something half between human and mold, skin turning to the white palor of the liquid from the tank. The Doctor jumped back. Jess jumped out of her seat. Buzzer immediately grabbed the first sharp object and lunged at the creature.

“Where's the real Cleaves, you thing?!” HE screamed, held back only by Jimmy.

The Doctor was looking at the Flesh Cleaves, rapt interest. “Good, you remember. This is the early Flesh, the first stages of the technology. So much...”

Jess frowned. “Early stages? You've seen this before, then?”

The Doctor shot her an almost apologetic smile.

“Doctor, what's happened to her?” Amy asked. It was this question the Doctor answered.

“She can't stabilize. She's shifting between half formed and full formed. For now, at least.”

“We are living.” The creature groaned out, it's voice sounding like Cleaves, but different at the same time. It had desperation in is eyes. It struck at the Doctor, and when he dodged out of the way, it went screaming through the doors and away from the group.

“Let her go.” The Doctor responded when the crew turned to look at him, unsure.

“Doctor, Rory.” Amy jumped up.

“Rory?” HE asked, hands on his hips.

“Rory!” Amy repeated, spinning around as if to emphasize the lack of Rory in the room.

The Doctor jumped, “Oh, Rory. Rory! Always with the Rory.”

This caused Jess to laugh, and Amy shot her a glare. “Sorry.” She muttered. “But I'm sure he's fine. We'll find him.”

“First.” The Doctor said. “Let's go get Rory.”

Jess nodded, and stood next to the Doctor. “Jimmy, would you mind showing us to the washroom, then?”

She gave him her sweetest smile, and he nodded, though looking hesitant. He lead them outside, walking by the light of a long cylindrical torch.

“The explosion must have ruptured the acid feeds.” Jimmy looked around, a pool of acid on the ground. “We're going to need the acid suits.”

“No, no no.” The Doctor responded, pushing Jess back away from the puddle. “We haven't got time. Back up, back up.”

He ran the other direction, and the two followed him. Before they'd gone too far, Amy caught up with them.

“Thought I told you to stay with the others.” The Doctor sounded annoyed, but Jess wanted to laugh.

Amy shot him a look. “Yeah, as if. I'm coming to find Rory.”

Jess did giggle, just a bit under her breath, when the Doctor repeated. “Always with the Rory.”

They followed him into a room, down some stairs. Amy called out Rory's name in fear.

“Jennifer's a ganger too, then.” Jess responded, stepping into the room to find the glass window in the bathroom stall broken.

“Doctor, you said they wouldn't be violent.” Jimmy stated.

“He did say they were scared, though.” Jess pointed out.

“And angry.” The Doctor added, walking to the mirror and leaning against the sinks.

Jess turned around and looked at the Doctor. “I think it's time you told us, Doctor.”

“Told us what?” Amy frowned. “Told us what, Doctor?”

The Doctor stiffened, turned around slowly. Jess could see the tightness in his face, his jaw clenched and his eyes dark. He gulped, looking into Amy's eyes. Jess stepped back. “Doctor. Why are we really here?”

He opened his mouth, and sputtered out. “I have to talk to them, I can fix this.” And with that, he darted out of the room.

Jess gave chase quickly, followed by Amy and a confused Jimmy, asking about Jennifer. The Doctor wound through a hallway, Jess close on his heels. She skidded to a halt, grabbing the Doctor's coat to keep him from walking right into a jet of steam that burst through a pipe.

“It's too dangerous out here with all this acid about the place!” He roared, turning as Amy and Jimmy caught up.

“We have to find Rory.” Amy responded.

“Right. I'm going to the TARDIS. The rest of you go back to the dining hall. I need you all to stay together. And no more wandering off!” He pointed a finger at Amy, causing Jess to smirk. He rounded on her. “You.” He told Jess. “You just...Keep your mouth shut and stay with the Ponds.”

She scowled, looking like a chastised child. The Doctor darted off down a hall.

“Here we go.” Jimmy spoke up, finding a big tin box on the wall, a yellow hazzard symbol on the side. “Distress flairs.”

The Doctor spun back, “Exit?”

Jimmy barely glanced up from emptying the contents of the bin as he gave him directions. The Doctor disappeared off again.

“We really need to acid suits.” Jimmy said again. “I've sent Buzzer and Dicken to go get them.”

“That's all fine and dandy.” Amy responded, torch in her hand and already starting to wander off. “I'm just going to go find my husband.”

“I'm coming with you.” Jess responded, glancing back at Jimmy as he protested. “The Doctor told me to stick with the Ponds.”

Amy shot her a glare, this one more good-natured than usual. They didn't always clash. Sometimes they could get along. “Since when did you listen to the Doctor?”

Jess responded with a serious smile of her own. “Since I thought I could help.”

Amy nodded. “If you help me find him, I'll be nice to you for a week.”

“Two weeks.” Jess bartered.

Amy laughed. “Alright, Two weeks.”

Jess smiled, and paused when the corridor came to a fork. She pointed down one side. “I'll go this way. You check the other.”

Amy nodded, and the two split up. Jess walked cautiously, avoiding any puddled on the ground, her hand touching the cold stone wall as she walked. She stopped when she heard voices.

“I noticed your eyes right off.” It was Jennifer's voice.

“Did you?” Rory's voice.

“Nice eyes. Kind.” Jess listened, turning the corner and peering into the room. Rory stood, talking with the Flesh Jen.

She watched as Rory bent down to the level of the Flesh. “Where's the real Jennifer?”

“I am Jennifer Lucas.” She stood up, imploring him to understand her.

“She's right, you know.” Jess spoke up, stepping into the room. The two of them looked at her.

Jess gave Jen a smile. “You are Jennifer Lucas. With all her memories, all her thoughts, feelings, everything. It's all there. Inside your head. Inside your heart.”

“I'm not a monster.” Jen began to tear up.

Rory flailed for a moment, and then pulled her into his arms.

“Why did they do this to us?” Jen asked, peeking at Jess out of the crook of Rory's arm. “Help me, Rory..” She cried. “Help me, Jess..”

Rory held her tighter, holding onto her until her tears subsided.

“I promise you, Jen.” Jess gave the softest of smiles, touching the girl's shoulder gently. “We'll get this sorted. Me, and Rory, and the Doctor. We want to help. That's why we came here.”

Jen nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  
  


  
  


 


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, at chapter 20, and not even half way through the story yet. I said it would be a long one!

  Elsewhere, the Doctor had finally reached the outside. He pulled the TARDIS key from his pocket, looking for her. What he saw rather surprised him.

“What are you doing down there?” He asked, looking at the ship.

It had sunk into the ground, a perfect square melted and sunk right in, only the top of the words Police Box showing.

A sizzle started to burn at his feet and he jumped, tearing out of his shoes. He looked down, lamenting the loss of the boots. The acid had taken them.

“Well, the TARDIS is going to be no help.” He spoke to himself, and turned around back into the building.

 

“We need to get to the dining hall.” Jess told Rory and Jen. “That's where the Doctor wants everyone gathered.

“Are you sure you're alright, now?” Rory asked.

Jen followed Jess and Rory through the building. “I'm different now, stronger.”

“You're stabilizing.” Jess told her.

“The Doctor.” Rory spoke up. “He only wants to help, Jennifer, okay?”

She stopped, a grin spreading across her face. “You used my name? You used my name!”

In her happiness, she pressed a kiss to his lips. Jess's eyes had widened almost as much as Rory's. He shot her a pleading look, not to tell Amy about that. Harmless as it was, she had a jealous streak in her.

“Amy's a lucky girl.” Jen chuckled.

Rory seemed to think about it for a moment. “Yeah....yeah she is.”

“Let's go.” Jess said, and started walking on, leaving the other two no option but to follow her or be left behind.

They started to walk through the hall. Rory stopped, peering down a side tunnel.

“Amy!”

“You're okay.” Amy turned to look at him.

Jess walked back to them, just as Jen appeared around behind Rory. Amy took a defensive step.

“She needs our help.” Rory started.

“No. It's a ganger, Rory listen.” Amy started.

Rory snapped back at her, probably for the first time since Jess had met them. “No, you listen. Nobody touches her!” He yelled, keeping Jen close.

Jess smiled. Turned around to see two of the others come up behind him. Jen looked nervous between everyone. Jess stood up beside her, keeping her between him and Rory.

“Anyone who wanted to hurt her, will have to go through me, first.” She announced. “We're all going to the dining hall and waiting for the Doctor.”

A reluctant agreement was made, and they all started off. Jess reached down and took Jen's hand, giving her a comforting smile. Rory followed close behind, and the others marched on in silence.

When they got to the dining room, They sat Jen down in a seat. Jess sat beside her, with Rory standing on her other side.

The others stood on the other side of the table, even Amy. Jess couldn't help but see what this was turning into. A war, both sides separated by the table. And Amy wasn't on Rory's side.

“What have you done with her?” one of them asked, directed at Jen.

“I haven't seen her, I swear.” Jen answered. “But look, I'm her. I'm just like her, I'm real.”

“You're a copy.” Jimmy stated, leaning forward, over the table.

“Clone, if you want to get technical about it.” Jess responded flippantly. “But no less a proper life form than any of you, or even the human Jennifer.”

The others shot her a glare and Amy spoke to Rory.

“Rory, we don't really know anything about them, yet.” Her fear did seem to stand founded.

“I know that she's afraid.” Rory answered. “And she needs our help.”

“Rory...” Amy tried again, but Rory threw up a hand to silence her and turned back to Jen.

Jen was still trying to convince the others that she was Jennifer Lucas.

Jess leaned back. “Alright, guys.” She spoke up. “Let's not do anything....until the Doctor gets here.” The last part of her sentence had been echoed by the Doctor's familiar voice.

They all turned to look at him, swaggering through the door with a grin on his smile and a line of Gangers following him. Jess could feel the warmth drain from the room and fear infect the people around her.

“This is...” Jimmy stood up from the table.

His ganger's eyes widened and he gulped. “You're telling me.”

“Alright, Doctor.” Flesh Cleaves spoke carefully. “You've brought us together, now what?”

“Before we do anything.” The Doctor responded, smiling as Jess stood up and walked to his side. “Has anyone of you got a pair of shoes I could borrow, size ten?”

Jess looked down at the Doctor's feet. He wiggled his socked toes.

“What in the world?” She laughed.

He shot her a lopsided grin. “Got them melted in an acid puddle.”

“I should warn you, though.” He told the others. “I have very wide feet.”

This caused the others to all look at him in a state of bewilderment.

Jess crossed her arms over her chest and stepped back. “Doctor, I think it's about time that you told us all what's going on.”

The Doctor nodded, leaning against the table. All eyes in the room turned to him.

“The flesh was never merely moss.” He repeated the analogy he'd heard before. “These are not copies. The storm has hardwired them. They are becoming people.”

“With souls?” Jimmy asked.

“Rubbish.” Dicken sneezed.

“Bless you.” His Ganger spoke up.

“What?” The Doctor looked at Jess, bemusement on his face. “We were all jelly once. Little Jelly eggs, sitting in goop.”

“Yeah, thanks for the image.” Amy snapped.

The Doctor glanced back over his shoulder at her. “We are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up. We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand?”

The others nodded, however reluctantly.

“Good.” The Doctor conitnued. “Now, the TARDIS is trapped in an acid pool. Once I can reach her, I can get you all off this island. Humans and gangers, and us too.” He turned to smile at Jess.

“Can we go home for Adam's birthday?” Jimmy asked.

“What about me?” The flesh Jimmy asked. “ He's my son too.”

“You?” Jimmy's voice rose the smallest degree. “You really think that?”

“I feel.” The ganger answered.

“Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?” Jimmy responded angrily.

“Yeah.” The Flesh answered. “I drank about eight pints of tea. And the told me I had a wee boy, and I just burst out laughing.”

Jess watched the Doctor's face as the conversation went on. She could see the nervous hope there. She could see what he was trying to do. She smiled, understanding lighting in her eyes, and she swore she couldn't respect this man any more.

The Doctor stood up. “I'm not going to lie.” He told them. “This is a right odd mess, but as you might say up North, Oh well, I'll just go to the foot of the stairs.” The Doctor laughed, rambling awkwardly. “Alright then, only thing left to do is get everything set.”

“But we're still missing human Jennifer and Cleaves.” Jess pointed out.

“I'll go and look for them.” Jimmy started.

After a short paused, Flesh Jimmy started. “I'll give ye a hand, alright?”

Jimmy seemed to think about it for a moment, and then a gentle, but confused, smile covered his features. “Alright, yeah. Thanks.”

“This circus has gone on long enough!” An angry voice startled them from the other side of the room.

Cleaves, the human one, strode into the room, gun brandished in her hands, aimed right at the Flesh.

“Oh great.” the Flesh Cleaves rolled her eyes. “You see, that is just so typically me.”

“Doctor, tell IT to shut up.” Cleaves hissed, shifting uneasily on her feet. Fear, anger, and not a hint of understanding quelled inside of her.

“Please, no.” The Doctor help up his hands, “No!”

“This fires about, what? 50,000 volts?” She brandished the device in her hand that Jess only just realized wasn't a gun, but some kind of electrical tazer machine. “It'll kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on gangers, just the same.”

“It's interesting that you refer to them as it.” The Doctor stuttered up, trying to bide time with his words. He seemed to do that a lot, in any regeneration, Jess noticed. “But you call a glorified cattle prod a she.”

“When the real people are safely off this island, I'll be glad to talk philosophy over a pint with you, Doctor.” Cleaves responded.

“What are you going to do to them?” Jess asked, moving ever so slightly to stand in front of Jen, hiding her from Cleave's view.

“Sorry, they're monsters.” Cleaves snapped. “Mistakes. They have to be destroyed.”

“Give me the probe, Cleaves.” the Doctor tried, but her ganger spoke up.

“We always have to take charge, don't we, Miranda.” The Flesh spoke. Jess closed her eyes, her heart sinking. What was wrong with the ganger? They were trying to difuse the situation, not goad her on. “Even if we don't know what the hell is going on.”

At that moment, the Flesh Buzzer made a run for it. Cleaves didn't hesitate with the probe and set two long jolts of electricity right into his chest. He twitched and fell to the floor, crashing into a table.

Jess and the Doctor dropped to the floor, trying to see if he was still alive.

“What have you done?!” Amy screamed.

“We call it recommissioned.” Cleaves said, keeping the weapon brandished.

She turned it on the other gangers and Jen flinched away, hissing out a scared sound. Her form had deteriorated, back into that of the half formed flesh.

“You stopped his heart!” The Doctor turned around, anger and sadness in his voice. “He had a heart!”

Jess stood up, turning to the other gangers.

“Jen?” She called out, sensing the girl's fear.

Jen flinched away, stepping back. “What happened to Buzz will happen to us all, if we trust you!” She yelled.

“Wait...wait just a minute!” Jess held up her hands in a show of good faith, of harmlessness.

Rory spun around, looking. “No!” He screamed, and he dove at Cleaves, who had poised the probe right at Jen, ready to strike.

He pinned her, pulling the power source out of the prod as she struggled with him. The gangers all made a run for it, even as Jess and the Doctor pleaded for them to wait.

Jess ran to the door, calling out for them to come back, but it was already too late. The Doctor spun around, flaring out his coat and putting his hands on his hips. He looked at Cleaves as Rory got off her and she climbed to her feet.

“Look at what you've done, Cleaves.” Jess had never heard that amount of disappointment in his voice before. At least, not this version of him.

“If it's war, then it's war.” She hissed at him, angry, unable to stand still on her feet, like a tiger trapped in a cage. “You don't get it, Doctor.” She spat his name like venom. “How can you? It's us and them.” She gave him a smug, triumphant look and turned to her crew. “Us and them.”

She said it like an order. Jimmy and Dicken frowned, looking at her in disbelief, but she was their captain, their boss.

“Us and them.” They repeated with no conviction in their voices. At least there was that, Jess sighed, resting her head against the Doctor's shoulder.

She closed her eyes, trying to figure out what they were going to do. The Doctor's hand reaching out for hers gave her a little strength.

“How's your leg?” He asked her, voice in a whisper.

She wanted to laugh. How could he even think about her leg in a time like this. “Fine.”


	21. Chapter TwentyOne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adventure over, deviations complete OvO in the next chapter, we will break once more from canon episodes and back into the fic!

They stood around, unsure what to do. Amy fussed over the body of Buzzer while Rory tried to explain why he'd defended the Flesh Jennifer. Jess didn't think that he needed to explain. He was protecting a living being. That should have been all that mattered.

The Doctor had continued to hold onto Jess, as he turned his back on the others, thinking silently to himself. Jess leaned against his arm, content on studying his face as a way to distract her from the thunder. She had never, in her life, liked thunder.

“The most fortified and defensible room in the monastery?” The Doctor finally spoke up, glancing behind him. “Cleaves! The most fortified and defensible room in the monestary?”

“The Chapel.” She snapped.

The Doctor spun around gently, allowing Jess the time to step away from him and gain her own balance.

“Let's get there, then.” He started. “Fast as we can! They're coming back, and in a big way.”

Jess grinned, despite the apparent danger. They all ran, following the Doctor through the corridors, jumping over acid spills and slamming into walls.

He threw the door open and let them all run inside. Jess stopped when Amy didn't follow her inside. She turned and looked at Amy, who stared at Rory.

“Rory?” Amy called.

“Jen's out there.” He said, hesitating in the hallway. “She's out there, and she'd on her own.”

“If she'd got any sense, then she's hiding, Rory.” The Doctor stated.

“I can't leave her out there!” Rory snapped, and then turned and started to run back the way he came.

“Amy!” Jess called, as she caught sight of the gangers coming, in the acid suits. She pulled Amy inside the chapel, and slammed the door. “They're not after him, they're after us. He'll be alright. He's Rory.”

Jess did her best to comfort Amy, but it did little. Instead, they focused on fortifying the door, heaving large boards of wood against it.

Jimmy dropped down on a barrel and leaned against the wall, mad laughted echoing through the hall. “This is insane. We're fighting outselves.”

Jess spun around and watched the Doctor, who looked into the darkness of the room curiously.

“Yes, it's insane.” His voice sounded, almost angry. “And it's about to get even more insanier.”

Jess hesitated, and stepped up to the Doctor. He roared into the Darkness, “Alright! Show yourself! Right now!”

“Doctor!” Amy snapped, ignoring the Doctor's sudden outburst. “Rory is trapped out there. The Gangers want to kill us, we're trapped in here, and we can't even get to the TARDIS.”

“Correct in every respect, Pond.” The Doctor said, only his voice didn't come from the Doctor standing right in front of the girls. “It's frightening, unexpected, frankly, a total, utter, splattering mess on the carpet.”

Jess, Amy, and the Doctor looked into the darkness, towards the source of the voice as it continued. “But I'm certain, 100% certain. That we can work this out.”

He stepped from the darkness and into the dim light, a replica of the Doctor in every way except the face half formed. “Trust me.” He said, straightening his bow tie. “I'm the Doctor.”

Jess gaped, standing back. The Flesh Doctor screamed, holding his head.

“What's happening?” The Doctor asked, walking towards him.

The flesh continued to writhe, spewing out words. Phrases that the Doctor remembered. Things he used to say all the time. Jess recognized them as well. She'd read so many stories of the previous Doctors. In fact, she'd read the diaries in the TARDIS the Doctor from her universe didn't know she knew about. Skimmed, mostly. There were too many to read through.

“Hold on!” The Doctor yelled, taking hold of his Flesh. “You can stabilize!”

Jess wrapped her arms around Amy when she tried to run towards the Doctor. Jimmy helped her hold the thrashing ginger back as well. Amy, desperate to get to the Doctor, kicked at her. But it was too dangerous, and the Doctor needed to sort it, and Jess wanted to run to them as well, but she held Amy back.

Slowly, the Flesh began to stabilize. Form came to his face, palor to his skin. The Doctor and the Flesh began to talk, ask each other questions. Amy jumped to the door, with the crew, looking for signs of the Gangers. Jess watched the Doctors go back and forth.

One thought came to her mind, a terrible, naughty thought. Two Doctors, oh was party that could be. She smirked at herself, and both Doctors turned to look at her, speaking in unison.

“What's that face for?” They asked.

Jess's eyes widened at them. “Just because I can. Do you have a problem with my face?”

The Doctors shook their heads and went back to talking among themselves, though Amy had urged them with the need to leave.

Suddenly, a steamy hiss melted through the wall of the chappel. Amy frowned, Jess turned her attention to the sound.

“Acid.” Amy nearly whimpered, stepping back from the door at the sound of the banging.

Jess found her way closer to the Doctor....Doctors. She overheard them speaking.

“Amy and Rory, they may not trust both of us.” One Doctor spoke to the other.

Jess spun around and looked between them. “What about me?” She almost sounded offened, but both Doctors gave her the widest of grins.

“You'll trust me, no matter how many of me there are, won't you?” One of them asked her.

Jess seemed to think about it for a moment. “Of course. To the ends of time and back again.”

“So what's the plan?” One of the Doctors asked.

“Save them all.” The other responded. “Humans and Gangers.”

“Tall order. Sounds wonderful.” The other stated. Jess glanced down, her head swimming with confusion. She decided, in her mind, that the Doctor wearing nice shoes would be Doctor, and the one wearing ratty old borrowed shoes would be Other Doctor. Just to keep it right in her head.

“Alright then. Sorry.” Both Doctors, followed by Jess, walked back to the group. It was odd to hear the Doctors speak in unison, talking about ground rules and keeping things from being confusing.

“Alright.” Amy snapped. “Glad you two solved the problem of confusing.”

“That's sarcasm.” the Doctor pointed out, pointing at her as he looked at Other Doctor.

“She's very good at sarcasm.” Other Doctor stated.

“Right, we have to get off this island.” The Doctor stated.

“In case you didn't get the memo.” Cleaves hissed. “They're trying to kill us!”

“We're trapped in here.” Jess spoke up, walking beside the Doctor and Other Doctor stepped forward.

“See, I don't think so.” He saied. “The Flesh bowl is fed by cabling from above.”

“But where are the Earthing conduits?” The Doctor asked, looking down at the ground.

“Well, this piping must go down, into a tunnel, or a shaft, or something.” Other Doctor wandered around, looking at the floor as he walked in circles and spoke, stopping in front of a stack of wooden boards. He pulled it from the wall, exposing a grate behind it.

“Yowza.” He said, causing Jess's expression to crack into a grin. “An escape route.”

“Do we tend to say Yowza?” The Doctor asked from beside Jess.

The Other Doctor frowned, almost sneered. “That's enough, let it go, okay? We're under stress.” As if it were an excuse for the odd way they were acting talking. The Doctor was just weird, and so would his ganger be as well.

Jess stepped up, looking between the two of them. “You two are making things way too confusing.” She said.

“For once, I agree.” Amy said. “We just need to get out of here.”

Everyone agreed, and they made their way out through the escape route and into a proper corridor, safe for the moment.

The Doctor started to lead them down the halls.

“We need to find a way to contact the mainland.” Cleaves pointed out as the walked.

“What about Rory and Jen?” Amy asked. “They are both out there.”

“No!” The Doctor pointed out. “This place is a maze. IT takes a long time to find someone in a mze.”

“Bet I could find them.” Jess jumped up to accept the challenge.

The doctor, both of them, spun on her. “Absolutely not.” They spoke at the same time.

Jess looked between them defiantly. “Like you can stop me.” She turned to Amy, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. “Don't worry, Amy. I'll find Rory and bring him back to you. Remember our deal?”

Amy laughed, but a tear welled up in her eyes. “Just...be safe.” The sentiment came awkwardly from Amy's mouth.

Jess turned to the Doctor, the one she claimed as the real Doctor, the one with the nicer shoes. “Remember what I said.” She told him, smiling. “About worrying.”

He frowned, but he nodded. Jess glanced around, and then took off running. Behind her, she didn't hear the sounds of coughing. She didn't see the gas. Her mind was only on finding Rory, and Jen if she could.

There were so many corridors, so many tunnels. She would never find them like this, but she had a secret weapon. A swipe of her finger across the silver metal on her wrist revealed her watch. She pressed a button. The device hummed, and the the light flickered. A three dimensional model of the monastery appeared above the watch face.

“I need to see Rory.” She muttered to herself, tapping the button. A red dot flickered into life on the screen. Jess grinned and started running towards the light, following the map her Sonic Watch had given her. She liked the hologram setting. Not as fancy as the Doctor's psychic interface, sending the map right into his brain.

As she searched, she couldn't help but to think about Amy, and her reaction to the Doctors. Would Amy be able to tell them apart, she wondered? Would she trust them both? It was a cruel game the Doctor was playing, but it wasn't her place to say anything. She turned a corner, Rory's blip on her screen just one more hallway down.

She smiled, spinning around the corner. Running into the room and calling his name. Rory held Jen in his arms, and they both looked up at Jess.

“What happened?” Jess asked.

“She attacked me!” Jen pointed to a melting blob of flesh on the ground. “Oh, I knew you'd find me. You've got to help me.” She was panicked, limping.

“Alright.” Jess said, having shut off her screen just before meeting Rory. She hadn't bothered to re disguise the watch just yet. “Come on, let's go.”

Rory nodded to Jess and they all let the room, going down the hallway. Jen led them.

“Where are we going?” Jess asked, coughing as they moved lower under ground, into a nasty smoke that burned her luns.

“This is the thermostatic chamber.” Jen told them. “We can stur the oxygen supply from here, get rid of the gas and clear the air...but it's locked.”

“I'll handle it.” Jess stepped up, glancing at Rory. She bit her lip and coughed. “After this, we're going to have a lot to talk about.”

She turned from Rory's confused expression and tapped a setting into her Sonic, holding the face up to the padlock. It clicked open and the door swung free. Rory followed Jen into the room, leaving Jess to look out for gangers.

She glanced inside, watching Jen place Rory's hand on a panel and then they began to spin a wheel. Jen grinned at Rory and they met Jess back in the hallway. They began running once more, making their way through the halls.

“So...” Rory said after they'd made it out of the hallway and into a clearer corridor. “That watch...it's...”

“Sonic.” Jess nodded. “Yes.”

“And...The Doctor doesn't know?”

“Nope.”

“Right.”

Jess glanced at Rory. “Don't tell him.” She begged. “Even if you tell Amy, if I tell the two of you everything. Please, don't tell the Doctor?”

Rory said nothing, stopping. He looked at Jess. “That's up to Amy.”

“I was afraid of that.” Jess nodded.

“Guys.” Jen called from the other end of the corridor. “Come on!”

They nodded and caught up to her. She stood in front of an open door. “This room is usually always sealed. The power surge must have opened the vaults.”

Jess nodded. “Shall we check it out?”

Jen nodded, walking down the hall. Rory stopped, his eyes catching sight of something. All three of them paused, looking on in horror.

“What is that?” Rory asked.

Jen stepped back. Jess flinched. A great massive pile of flesh, melted and oozed, still living and feeling.

“That's...that's horrible.” Jess muttered, under her breath. “That's....that's wrong.”

Rory leaned in closer. “But...but Cleaves, the company? How could they do this?” He asked.

Jen turned and looked at the pair of them. “Who are the real monsters?” She asked.

Jess looked at the pile of flesh. “This can't carry on. “ She spun to Rory and Jen. “We've got to do something. We've got to make them see, understand what they're doing.”

“Okay.” Jen nodded, glancing between Jess and Rory. “I have an idea. I need you two to trust me, right? You came looking for me, so we've got a bond, right?”

“Yeah..” Rory nodded, looking into Jen's desperate eyes.

Jess stepped back, but she nodded all the same.

“Trust me on this.” Jen told them.

Jess and Rory listened to Jen, and they set off, leaving her with the flesh. Rory followed Jess through the tunnels, watching a group of blips on a map on her watch.

“Amy!” Rory called, the moment they turned the corner and found their friends.

Jess quickly switched off her watch and swiped the cloaking device on. She walked up, just as Amy and Rory pulled each other into a desperate hug.

The Doctor looked at Jess and she gave him a curious smile. There was only one, when last they'd left, there had been two.

“There's a way out.” Rory told them. “Jennifer found it. A secret tunnel under the crypt.”

“Under the crypt?” Cleaves asked. “It's not on the schematics.”

“It runs right under the monastery.” Rory told them, “Maybe even under the TARDIS, Doctor. Follow me.”

He spun then, and began to run. The others looked at Jess, and she frowned. She watched Rory get ahead, and then she muttered something to the Doctor. “Jen's Flesh.”

The Doctor's expression didn't change, but Jess didn't expect it to. He already knew. They all took off after Rory, running through the tunnels. They all got into the acid room, Rory pointing them into the room. The door shut, separating Jess, Amy, and the Doctor, from Rory and Jen.

Amy slammed against the door as she watched Rory be carried off by the Flesh. Jess turned around and looked at the others, away from the Door. They were trapped. The Doctor was running around the room, scanning, talking about the acid.

“We can't stop it?” Cleaves asked, turning around and looking at the Doctor after he diagnosed their death.

“No.” The Doctor frowned. “But I think we can slow it down. If we cover this acid pit.”

“Do you really think this is going to work, Doctor?” Jimmy asked, lowering the lid.

“If you have a better plan, I'm all ears” The Doctor snapped. “In fact, if you have a better plan, I'll take you to a planet where everyone's all ears.”

The lid dropped onto the base with a hiss, but it didn't last long.

“The acid's eating through. “Cleaves told them, and then a huge lurched shook the room.

Each of them grabbed for something to hold on to. Jess wrapped her arms around the Doctor. Jimmy jumped up, grabbing the lid and trying to hold it down as best he could, but it wouldn't stay.

Acid spat out of it, just as the locked door hissed open and the Flesh Jimmy jumped down the stairs. “Let me through!” He screamed, dropping to the side of his human counterpart.

“There's nothing we can do.” Jess said, already kneeling beside him. “The acid's reached his heart.”

Jess stood up, stepping to the Doctor's side as she gave Jimmy and his ganger their last moments together. Death, it had never been something Jess liked to see. The feel of the Doctor's fingers wrapped around hers comforted her just the smallest of bits. She looked up at him, gave him a careful smile.

The flesh ganger stood, and all of them followed. They walked into the main room. Amy jumped into Rory's arms, but Jess's eyes were on a video hologram.

A small boy, Jimmy's son. Ganger Jimmy, just....Jimmy... talked to him. And the boy lit up with smiles when the Doctor promised he'd be going home that day.

But a warning rang out around them. Jess shared a look with the Doctor, and the two of them and the Ponds ran into the hallway to see what was going on.

A great creature, the flesh, that had once been Jennifer, now grotesque and angry and running towards them on all fours.

“RUN!” The Doctor yelled, and turned tail. He grabbed Jess's hand and pulled her along as they spun through the corridors. They skidded to a halt in the room with the others, the door being shut behind them. Th Doctor's eyes hit the ceiling. “Oh...the roof's going to give!” He warned.

“We have to stop them.” Rory said. “This door doesn't lock!”

“But the far one does.” Dickens said, running out the door and down the hallway.

Jess knew, the moment she heard the Flesh Dickens screaming that he hadn't made it. But she'd heard the door slam shut moments before the squelching sound of the flesh.

Jess spun around, One Doctor at the door, and the other looking at the hole in the roof. A great rumbling sound shook the tunnels around them, and the bricks gave way. The TARDIS planted itself right in front of the group. Jess grinned and the Doctor in the doorway turned with an exciting flourish of his hands.

“Oh, she does like to make an entrance!” He laughed.

Jess opened the door of the TARDIS and the Doctor called for everyone to run into it. The Flesh Cleaves, the Doctor, and Amy stayed by the door.

Jess watched as Amy tried to talk the Doctor into getting inside the TARDIS with the others.

“Alright, if you stay, what will happen to you?” Amy asked.

“Well.” The Doctor pushed against the door. The flesh creature had broken through, and the only thing keeping it out was the Doctor and Cleaves holding her out. “Well, this place is about to explode, but I can stop her.” She said.

“Both of you can survive this.” Amy said. “There has to be a way.”

The other Doctor emerged from the TARDIS. Jess followed him back to the door as he stood in front of them and spoke.

“Or, perhaps you thing I should stay instead, Mr. Smith.” He said.

Amy pulled away from the wall, walking to the Doctor. “No, of course not. This man, I've flown with him.” She said. Jess shook her head. “And you are amazing. And yeah, I misjudged you. But you're not him. I'm sorry.”

“Amy.” Jess spoke up, stepping around the Doctor slowly. She took the man's hand and licked her lips. “They swapped shoes.”

Amy shot a confused glare at Jess. “What?”

“They swapped shoes.” Jess repeated. “This is the Doctor.”

“How do you know?” Amy asked. “Did you see them?”

“Not at all.” The Flesh responded. “We did it before she looked. I'm the Flesh.”

“You can't be.” Amy spun and looked at the man she'd thought had been the real Doctor all this time. “You're the real him.”

“No, I'm not.” HE said, struggling to hold the door shut. “And I haven't been, all along.”

“I'm the original Doctor, Amy.” the man holding Jess's hand said, sadness in his eyes.

“Why did you lie to me?” She asked.

The Doctor opened his mouth, closed it, and then spoke again softly. “We had to know if we were treated the same. It was important, vital we learned about the Flesh, and we could only do that through your eyes.”

Amy looked between the two of them, disbelief and betrayal on her face. She turned her expression on Jess. “How did you know?”

Jess looked at the Doctor, the man holding her hand and she smiled. He returned the smile with one just as bright. “I just....did.”

Amy said nothing, and then she turned and hugged the Flesh.

“I never thought it was possible.” She muttered into his ear.

“What?” He questioned, wrapping his arms tight around her.

“You're twice the man I thought you were.” She answered.

Jess smiled, leaning her head against the Doctor's shoulder. “A greater man that I ever thought possible.”

Rory ran out of the TARDIS and grabbed Amy, urging her in. Jess smiled up at the Doctor and pulled the Sonic out of his pocket.

“This might not be the end for you, after all.” She told the Flesh, tossing the Sonic to him.

“Hey!” The Doctor protested, but the smile on his face showed he was about to do the same thing.

Jess just laughed, squeezed his hand, and pulled him along inside the TARDIS.

The door shut behind him and their hands dropped. The Doctor jumped to the controls and set the TARDIS off in motion. Jess fell into the jump seat as Amy joined the Doctor by his side, taking care of the crew. The Flesh who had survived, who were fully formed people now, thanks to the TARDIS. He even produced a vial of futuristic medicine to cure Cleave's blood clot, and dropped them all off where they belonged.

Amy and Rory stepped in front of Jess as the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS with Jimmy. The others had been dropped off and the Doctor wanted to give his son a present.

“We need to know.” Amy told Jess, arms crossed over her chest. “We need to know everything, and if there's not a damn good reason, I'm telling the Doctor.”

Jess nodded. “Come to the library.” She told them. “After the Doctor is done, I'll tell you everything then.”

“Tell who what?” the Doctor asked, sauntering back into the TARDIS.

Jess spun around to look at him. “Tell us why you dropped us off there. You've had a reason for it all along, and you haven't told us.”

The Doctor laughed softly. “What reason do I ever have?” He asked, holding up the physic paper. “I got a distress call.”

Jess laughed, turning to the others. “Nothing more important than a house call from the Doctor.”

Amy nodded, not amused. Rory looked between them all, wrapping his arms around Amy. Jess stepped up to the Doctor, closer than normal, invading his space. She smirked at the way in startled him

“Take us somewhere, Doctor.” she said, smirking. He met her eyes and she leaned up on her tiptoes, whispering so softly, even he almost didn't hear her. “I know when you're lying.”

 


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy and Rory finally get the truth. And....a few more details not mentioned before. There's only more to come!

  Jess sat in a chair in the back of the library. Amy and Rory sat across from her. The entire room had been quiet for quite some time, only the sounds of their breathing to pass time. The Doctor was busy calibrating the TARDIS in the control room. She'd had a little damage from the acid.

Amy crossed her arms over her chest. Jess crossed one leg over the other. Rory cleared his throat.

Amy spoke. “Why did you know which Doctor was the real one?”

“They were both the real Doctor.” Jess spoke.

Amy didn't like this answer. “No, they weren't!”

Jess sighed, running a hand through her blonde hair. It was a mess, and she'd wanted to bathe first, but Amy had insisted.

“Tell me.” She demanded. “How did you know?”

Jess was silent for the longest moment, and then she spoke. “I have a bond with the Doctor.” She spoke, her voice careful. “One that cannot be tricked or confused with clones or duplicates.”

“A bond?” Rory spoke up, leaning forward in his seat. He shook his head. “Listen, I think it's best if you just....start from the beginning.”

“Alright.” Jess took a deep breath, looking around the room. “I guess, I should start with my birth.”

“You said you wouldn't be born if it weren't for the Doctor.” Rory pointed out.

Jess nodded. “Which was true, for the most part. He put my mum and dad in the same world. Gave them the power to save me. Gave them the power to send me here.”

“The story you told the Doctor.” Amy spoke, anger buried in her voice. “It was a lie.”

“Mostly, yes.” Jess answered truthfully. “My mum traveled with the Doctor. And the only reason I lied was because if the Doctor finds out who my mum is....if he finds out what really happened.” Jess looked down, and then turned her most serious, most warning, expression on the two. “He might try to stop it.”

“Who was your mum?” Amy asked, anger taken over by a fearful curiosity.

“Her name was Rose Tyler.” Jess responded. “My real name, is not Jessica Harkness. It's Jessica Tyler.”

“So, that man, that Jack.” Amy tried to make sense of it all. “He's not your dad, then?”

“Not in this universe.” she answered. “But all the same, yeah. He is.”

“This universe?” Rory asked. “You're from a different universe?”

Jess gave a small sigh, and she started from the beginning. The Very beginning. She told them of a Doctor who had fallen so deeply in love that he would tear himself into two people to be with the woman he loved. She told a story of tragedy, and of two lovers separated in space and time, of a woman who thought she'd been abandoned. She told of a eone night stand, and a reunion. Of a strange family living in a blue box, traveling the stars.

When she paused in her story, Amy looked at her, carefully. “I know who Rose Tyler is.” She picked her words. “I saw about her in the TARDIS archives.”

“So you know.” Jessica said. “Why you cannot let the Doctor know who I am. If he finds out that my mother is....” She paused. The wounds were still fresh in her mind. It hadn't been but four months since she'd come to this world, since everything and everyone she knew had died. “It's a fixed point in time, and he cannot change it.”

“And if he found out.” Amy gulped. “Then he would.”

Jess nodded.

“So that...” Rory pointed at the silver bracelet on Jess's wrist. “That's a Sonic Watch?”

“Why's it look like a bangle?” Amy asked.

Jess swiped her finger over it and the bracelet reappeared as a watch. “It's a Sonic Watch, a gift from the Doctor, the one from my world. Birthday present for my sweet sixteen. The chameleon circuit was Mum's idea. That way, it could match any outfit and I'd always look fashionable.” She laughed.

“Why a watch?” Rory asked.

Jess looked up at him. “You ask the time traveler's daughter why she picked a watch as her Sonic device?”

Rory laughed a bit at that. “Good point, I guess.”

“But I don't understand.” Amy finally spoke up. “If you're from the other universe, the one Rose was trapped in, how did you get here? The Doctor said there was no way back?”

The smile on Jess's face was sad, and she stood up in her chair, turning her back on them. “Rule one.” She told them. “The Doctor lies.”

“So, all this time....there was a way across?” Rory asked.

“Only for someone very lucky.” Jess responded. “Only for someone very, very special.”

“And you're just that special, yeah?” Amy asked, sarcasm leaking from her voice.

She gasped, then, when Jess turned around. Her eyes glowed with a golden light. “Yes.” Jess answered. “I am special.” The glow dimmed, her eyes becoming dark green once more. “I am born of two universes, and belong in neither. I am part of the world, but stand apart from it. I took the heart and soul of the TARDIS and melded it into the very fabric of my being.”

A tear escaped her and she collapsed back into the seat, her energy drained from her.

“So, what are you, then?” Amy asked, looking at Jess as if she had grown a second head. “A...child of the TARDIS, or something?”

“No.” Jess gave her a tired smile. “I am a sister to the TARDIS. She and I are one, are linked.”

“That's why it won't scan you.” Rory pointed out.

“Yes. And no.” Jess responded. “I asked her not to. She's respected my wishes because she knows who I am. She knows what I am.”

“What are you....exactly?” Rory asked, hesitantly.

Jess only smiled. “I am...”

“You're the Doctor daughter, aren't you?” Amy interrupted.

“What?” Rory gaped.

Amy went on, her eyes looking at Jess. “Even if that man, that Captain Jack, was your dad, the Doctor raised you. That Doctor in that universe, he was your dad, yeah?”

“He married my Mum.” Jess nodded. “But he was never my father. Never a dad to me. He took care of me, best he could. Made sure I knew I was accepted. He showed me the Shining World of the Seven Systems.” She smiled, knowing they wouldn't know what she meant by that. “But he was never dad.”

Amy's lips tightened into a thin line. “What are your intentions towards the Doctor?” She asked, sounding like an overprotective mother.

Jess gave a soft smile. “I'm here, only to protect him. The Master is coming. He pulled my entire universe apart, and he's going to come again. Into this universe. And he's going to tear it apart to get what he wants.....” Jess paused. “And I'm the only one that can stop him. And once the Doctor is safe, my duty is over.”

Amy and Rory both stared at her. Looked at her with confused, curious expressions, hundreds of questions passing through their minds and none of them able to come from their mouths.

Jessica leaned forward in her chair, looking seriously at Amy and Rory. “Will you keep my secret?” She asked them. “Until the Master is defeated, until the Doctor is safe, will you keep my secret?”

Amy glanced at Rory, then at Jess. “You promise to tell him, yeah? When the Master comes, you tell him the truth.”

Jess nodded somberly. “I promise.” She told them. “When the Master shows himself, the Doctor will learn my truth.”

Amy nodded. “Then...I trust you.”


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alright. it's getting serious, now.

Jess found herself back in the old kitchen. The unused kitchen. The cups of tea still sitting by the sink where the Doctor had left them. Amy and Rory hadn't spoken to her since she'd told them the truth. The Doctor hadn't left the TARDIS's console. She couldn't sleep, again.

Her feet were kept warm from the cold TARDIS floor with fuzzy socks in a bright pink color. She wrapped an equally appalling bright pink house coat around her light blue pajamas. She grabbed the kettle and filled it, humming some long forgotten tune.

She grabbed the cup and fixed the tea into it, making it just the way she liked it. Her hair fell from the messy bun on top of her head and she let out a puff of air to blow it from her face.

“Making tea?” A familiar voice asked from behind her.

She turned to the Doctor with a smile, finding him leaning in the doorway. He'd forgone his coat and appeared in only his trousers, shirt, and a pair of maroon suspenders. He'd even pulled off his boot, walking around in his socks.

“Would you like a cup?” She asked him, licking her lips at the expression he gave her.

His eyes were dark as they peered at her, searching her. Though his face had a suave smile on it, and his hair fell into his eyes. He looked like the cover of a cheesy romance novel Grandmum Jackie liked to read. If those guys were dorky and awkward, and dressed like primer-school maths teachers.

He pushed himself up from the doorframe and walked into the room, dropping himself down in one of the chairs at the tables. Jess turned around and busied herself with making him a cup of tea as well.

“I guess you've got something to say to me.” Jess spoke after the long silence of her mixing together the tea.

She carried both cups carefully to the table and placed the Doctor's cup down in front of him. She eased down in the seat across from him and sipped her own tea, looking at him over the top of her cup.

“Why do you think that?” He asked, sipping his own with a smile.

Jess shrugged. “Can't see another reason why you would want to come all the way back to the archived kitchens.”

The smile the Doctor gave her when he placed his mug back down on the table was sad, an immeasurable pool of sadness, regret, pain, fear, all sorts of emotions that Jess could see swimming behind his ancient eyes.

He spoke softly. “How's your leg?”

Jess shot him a look. “You know bloody well, my leg is fine.”

He shifted, looking at her once more. The sadness in his eyes had vanished, shifting into curiosity and worry. “I just wanted to check. Normally, I use the TARDIS scanners for all that, but they don't work on you. Still haven't sorted that out. Been working on it, though. It's really safer if I can just use the TARDIS to make sure you're not injured.”

He continued to ramble on until Jess spoke up, calling his name. He smiled at her sheepishly.

“Well, the only way I can check on you is to ask.” He admitted. “So this is me...asking.”

Jess smiled softly, wrapping her cold hands around the warm cup. “I'm fine, Doctor. It's not even sore. Even without the TARDIS's fancy scanners you fixed me up just fine.”

The Doctor didn't smile at this the way Jess did. She leaned back in her seat and started sipping at her tea once more, picking up a biscuit from the box that had been left there last time.

“There's something else, isn't there, Doctor?” She asked, biting into the biscuit.

She watched him lick his lips, lean back in his chair, pick up his cup, swirl it around, sit it back down without taking a sip. He looked up at her, his voice bemused as the smile on his lips.

“You knew which one was me.” His grin spread from ear to ear. “How did you know it was me?”

Jess shrugged. “I just...did.”

He finally took another sip of his tea, closing his eyes and savoring the flavor. He looked at her with a twitch of his lips.

“I wouldn't have known, you know.” He told her. “If it were two of you, I wouldn't have known.”

“Of course not.” Jess told him. “You've only known me a few months.”

“And you've only known me a few months.” He responded.

Jess smiled. “Yet it feels like I've known you my entire life.”

“And that.” The Doctor pointed one long, slender finger up at Jess. “You may feel like you've known me that long, but Amy really has known me that long, and she still didn't get it right.”

“Is that my fault?” Jess asked.

“Might be.” He snapped, giving a wobble of his head and a smile.

Jess responded with a smile of her own, and a small laugh. She sat her empty cup down and picked up another biscuit. She munched into it happily, still surprised that they weren't stale.

“I saw you switching shoes.” Jess spoke up after a while.

She'd kept silent, watching the Doctor sip at his tea and produce a newspaper from his inner coat pocket. He flipped it open and started reading it. Jess had inspected the back of it. All the articles were about aliens, she noticed. Interstellar personals adds, Spaceships for sale, and articles about planet-wide famine and destruction.

When she spoke, he glanced up at her over the newspaper, dropping it down so that he could see her face. The goofy grin on his face.

“Really?” he asked, a giggle in his voice.

Jess nodded. “When everyone else was looking at the door, I looked back at you. I saw you both switching shoes.”

The Doctor studied her, his eyes darting all over her face. After a long moment, he placed the paper down on the table.

“You know, Jess.” He said, standing up, and leaning forward. He smiled, his face close to hers, very close. She could feel herself holding her breath as his eyes met hers. “I know a thing or two about lying, myself.”

Her eyes widened a fraction of an inch. Her heart paused and dropped into her stomach, and then the moment was over. He dropped back into his seat with a flourish and kicked his legs up on the chair beside him. “So you might as well tell me the truth, you know. I know you didn't see us changing shoes.” He paused, licked his lips, and then looked at her as if he were admitting a dark secret. “I didn't do that until you'd left to go find Rory. When we were in the chapel and Amy first made her choice, and picked wrong. You weren't there when we switched places, but when you met us again, you knew who was real and who wasn't.”

Jess sighed. “Alright, yeah. I knew, and it wasn't cause of the shoes.”

“What was it then?” The Doctor asked, looking at her darkly, as if her answer held more importance than anything he'd ever asked.

She didn't answer right away, her mind reeled at the attempts of trying to come up with some reason he would believe. She crossed her arms over her chest and stalled. “Why can't you just accept that I know you really well, Doctor.”

He opened his mouth, then, to speak, then shut it and frowned. His fingers threaded through his long mop of hair, leaving it a mess falling into his eyes. “It's important.” He told her, leaning forward over the table, arms resting on the table, weight pressing against them. His voice was low, dark, careful. “Because I can't tell. Who you are, what you are. I can see...everything.”

He stopped talking, meeting Jess's eyes and looking into her. She felt bare, suddenly, but unable to look away. She was staring into her soul, straight through everything she was, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

“But I can't...I can't see you.” He spoke again and leaned back.

Suddenly, it was as if he couldn't see her at all. As if she were something foreign that he'd never seen before. A new alien species for him to study. A new puzzle for him to solve.

“I can see the whole of the universe.” He told her. “You already know that. You know more about me than anyone I've ever met before. And I've met myself. Quite a few times, actually. But that's not the point, and this isn't the time for a story like that.” He flinched a bit as he spoke, jumping out of his chair and spinning around the table as he talk.

He had worked himself up, like he seemed to do all the time. Jess watched as he spun around the room, talking about meeting himself, what faces he'd had when he'd met himself. He even started talking about this one computer matrix he'd seen that showed him a thousand hims.

He only stopped when he spun around and caught Jess's face, her bemused smile. One eyebrow pulled up, she tapped her fingers against the side of the mug. He stopped jumping around and looked at her, a suddenly shy smile on his face that fell away.

“The point is, Jessica Harkness.” The Doctor stated, gesturing with his hands as he did so. “Is that I can see all of space and time, everything that ever was, ever will be, ever could, and never should. So why can't I see you?”

“You're looking at me right now.” Jess responded.

The Doctor slammed his fists down on the table. “That's not what I mean!” He yelled at her, making her jump.

He looked up at her, his hair falling into his face. Desperation and confusion on his features. He took a deep breath to calm himself and fell, defeated, into the chair.

“I can see every future Amy and Rory could possibly have. I can see every moment of their life up until now, if I cared to. If I tried hard enough.” He ran a hand through his hair once more. “The point is, that I can...if I want to...see their time lines.....and I can't see yours.”

 


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to happen. some very serious things are about to happen. Please, strap yourselves in and get ready for this ride. 
> 
> (also, if you're curious about the date at the end, Jess is 22. do the math)

“Run!” The Doctor yell, barreling through the street towards them. Jess and Amy had been browsing the bazaar, looking for gifts.

They both had a few bags each in their hands, and Jess looked up to see the Doctor crash into a cart in his hurry. He passed by them and Jess caught sight of who was chasing him. Great, large alien brutes, wearing uniforms. Alien uniforms, but unmistakably police. Alien police.

Amy shared a wide eyed look with Jess, grabbed her wrist, and high tailed it after the Doctor. They didn't stop until they were back in the TARDIS, where Rory was reading a comic book on the steps and waiting for them all to return.

Jess swung the doors shut behind her and leaned against them, dropped her bags and trying to catch her breath. The Doctor kept running until he jumped up the stairs beside Rory and to the control panel, leaning against it. Amy came to a halt beside her husband and sat down next to him to catch her breath.

“Doctor.” Amy spoke, bemused anger in her voice. “What was that about?”

“Well how was I to know the shop owner was a robot?” His voice came defensive. “He was just....sitting there! I thought he was for spare parts!”

Amy looked to Jess and the two of them started laughing. Rory looked up between the two and smiled, obviously happy that Amy had decided to stop hating Jess. They made great friends, after all.

“So.” He spoke up, closing his comic book. “I'm guessing we won't be able to come back to this planet for a while. Where to next?”

Jess and Amy jumped up the steps together and skidded to a stop in front of the Doctor.

“Doctor,” Amy said, grin on her face.

“We've been thinking.” Jess picked up the sentence.

“It's been a while since we've been somewhere....”

“Nice.” Jess pointed out, turning to Amy and nodding at the use of the word.

The Doctor seemed confused by their form of communication, wringing his fingers together as he looked at them, unsure if they were going to sprout extra heads and try to eat him. He once offered to take them to a planet where the inhabitants were two headed cannibals.

“We were wondering.” Amy spoke again, and then they both spoke in unison. “Can we go to a planet with a beach?”

The Doctor seemed to think about it for a moment, and then looked to Rory. He gave the Doctor a shrug, and so he turned to the TARDIS controls, fingers wrapping around the lever.

“What do you think, dear?” He asked the ship. “Should we take the kids swimming?”

A whir echoed out around the room, and the Doctor smiled. “Alright, beach it is.”

He slammed the lever down, sending the TARDIS wheezing and careening into the time vortex. Once safely there, he turned back to them and asked.

“Which beach?” He started to run around the console, pressing buttons and flipping switches. He grabbed the monitor and pulled it around in front of the girls. “There's a planet with a beach of blue sand, and three suns that keep it the perfect mid-day all day. There's the beach of Akapoosh, the finest in the system. They're holding the Great Intergalactic Olympics there in 5784, that would be a sight to see. Or possibly, Venice Beach. America. 2012. A tuesday. Not too crowded at the beach on Tuesdays.”

With each place the Doctor suggested, a picture came up on the screen, showing them the time and place the Doctor was describing. Jess bit her lip to contain a smile as he spoke. He looked everywhere but in her eyes. He hadn't met her eyes since their conversation in the kitchen, having left it unfinished when the TARDIS had sent them a warning signal throwing them into an adventure that caused them to have to stop off at this planet in the first place to get spare parts for the TARDIS.

“There's one beach I'd like to go to.” Jess responded.

“Oh?” The Doctor asked, looking at her for the first time in two days. Really looking.

She shrugged, reaching over to tap onto the TARDIS controls. The Doctor looked at her, curious. “Why do you know how to do that?” He asked in a low voice.

She glanced at him as a beach appeared on the screen, and she whispered. “I read a book.”

It was her answer for everything, at this point. Anything she knew, it came from a book.

The Doctor looked at the screen. “It's pretty.” He said, watching the bleak waves wash upon the golden sand. A great pillar of stone stood in the wash of the tide, bubbles foaming around it. There wasn't a person at sight on the beach. He narrowed his eyes carefully at it, studying.

“Alright, TARDIS directive set for that beach. That one, in particular.” He started to spin around, setting dials and controls without even bothering to ask what beach they were going to. HE glanced up as the TARDIS began to shake in flight. He hadn't bothered to throw down the stabilizers. “Any particular time?” He asked.

“Not really!” Jess grabbed hold of the control panel, steadying herself. Amy had already fallen back into the jump seat and Rory wrapped an arm around the railing. “How about some time in the summer? Late summer, when it's just starting to get cool again. Morning! I want to watch the sunrise!”

“Sunrise, it is!” The Doctor answered, and he hit a switch.

The TARDIS hummed herself quite, steadying once more. The Doctor smiled, rubbing his hands together.

“One sunrise on a mystery beach.” He grinned and walked to the doors of the TARDIS.

Amy stopped Jess from following him with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Jess shook her head, sad smile on her face. “I don't think it's a good idea, at all. But I have to know. I have to find out how he'll react.”

“You don't have to do this, you know.” Amy spoke, pointedly. “There's got to be another way.”

Jess once again shook her head. She pulled herself away from Amy and smiled. “It's almost time, Amy. I can feel it. I just....I want to be sure before it does.”

Amy nodded in understanding and let Jess walk out of the TARDIS, taking hold of Rory's hand and making no moves to follow them.

Jess hesitated at the door before stepping out, her sandals sinking into the cold sand. The sun had just started to peek over the horizon, the sky starting to fade into a lighter blue where it met the calm sea. She could smell the salt in the air, burning her lungs with every breath.

The Doctor stood in front of her, a few yards from the TARDIS. He stood with his back to her, looking out at the beach, at the bay.

“Darlig Ulv Stranden.” She heard his voice speak, and it was broken. She felt her heart twist in her chest at the pain in his voice. The calm fury.

The only sound after that came from the soft crunch of sand beneath her shoes and the water breaking against the shore. She found herself behind him, reaching out to take his hand.

He pulled away and turned on her. “Why did you bring me here?!” He screamed, tears burning at the corners of his eyes. “What do you want from me?! Who are you?! What are you?!”

“You know who I am.” She spoke, her voice soft but desperate.

The Doctor shot her a glare, shaking his head and stepping back from her, walking backwards towards the TARDIS.

“What reason do you have to bring me here?” He asked, voice dark. “You know me, better than you should. You say you've read it all, but how do you know this? Why this? You know what this place is, don't you? You know what it means?!”

Jess nodded, unable to keep a tear from falling down her cheek. She had expected him to be upset. She hadn't expected him to look at her like she'd ripped the hearts from his chest, like she was some kind of a monster. To look at her with the same eyes he turned upon the Daleks the day he pulled her from their grasp and set in motion the burning of her universe.

She blinked away the tears. “I knew.” She stuttered. “I knew, and I'm sorry.”

“Why?” He asked, his voice broken as he looked at her.

She said nothing. The Doctor looked past her, to the TARDIS. She turned around to see Amy and Rory standing just outside of the doorway, looking at them.

“Were you sent here by the Master?” He asked, suddenly. “He sent you here to gain my trust so you could betray me later?”

“No!” Jess wanted to scream out, to hit him. She wanted to tell him everything, but she couldn't. Not yet. Now wasn't the time, but soon.

“You aren't Flesh, I examined them. I checked. You're living, but I can't sense you. It's got to be some kind of form, remote run, am I right? Are you a cyborg?” He suddenly pulled out his Sonic and started buzzing it at her, spinning around her and taking a look.

Jess paused. “You took us to that island...You took us to the Flesh because you wanted to see if I was one of them?” She asked.

The Doctor looked up at her, stopping his Sonic. His anger had faded, leaving a curiosity in his eyes. Possibly it was Jess's voice that did it. The pain he hear so bare and raw in her voice.

“You don't trust me, do you Doctor?” She asked. She stepped away from him, the burn of a salty tear trailing down her cheek. “I risked everything to find you, to warn you of the coming danger. I turned myself into a murdered to save your life! I gave everything to keep you safe, and you don't even trust me!”

“You lied to me!” He yelled at her.

“If I always told the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me!” She responded back.

The Doctor paused at this, looking at Jess once more, the barrier falling between them. She could feel it, like a great invisible wall settling right between them.

“The time is coming, Doctor.” She told him. “When everything will be revealed, but I need to you trust me when I say that the time has not yet come.”

“I...” The Doctor paused, reaching out a hand to her. He thought twice and dropped his hand limply back at his side. “I can't.”

Jess nodded, a silent sob wracking her body. “I thought that.”

She walked backwards, towards the TARDIS, unable to tear her blurred eyes away from the Doctor. Not until she was standing beside Amy and Rory. She turned to look at the two of them.

“I'm sorry..” She whispered to them, and disappeared inside the TARDIS.

 

The Doctor watched her go, forcing himself to stand through the aching in his two hearts. How could he trust her? It was an impossible request. This woman who had stolen his hearts and wrapped them around her finger. This woman who reminded him so much of the reason this place broke him into a thousand pieces and hung him to dry.

Why here? Why her? Why now? Why?

He would not get the answers to the questions he sought, but he was right, wasn't he? Not to trust her. He looked to Amy and Rory for affirmation, but they were looking at him like he'd just kicked their dog.

“If you can't trust her.” Amy said, and the Doctor flinched at the anger in her voice. His eyes glanced down to find her hands balled into trembling fists. “Then trust me, and know....that girl could tear universes apart to save you....and you just broke her heart.”

“Amy...” The Doctor called her name, reaching out for her, but she'd already spun and disappeared inside the TARDIS, following Jess.

Rory bit his lip and watched, and followed Amy. The Doctor stayed in the control room, shifting them away from the bay and back into the time vortex.

 

Jess walked down the halls with a particular destination in mind. The one place where she could calm down. The one place she spent her free time when the world started to get too much to her. When she missed her mum.

Now she knew, though. The Doctor still loved her mum, still missed her. Still felt the guilt she'd seen so clear on his face. And he didn't trust her, and never would. It would never be her, and she let that echo in her mind as she stopped at the door. Observation Deck 5.

She stepped inside, the white room immediately spinning into life and swirling the infinite beauty of the time vortex around her. She felt it calming her, wrapping around her very being and seeping inside of her. It was just a hologram of the real thing, but it still made her feel better.

Her tears had stopped when a sudden cry, a piercing scream echoed through the room. Jess spun, the room flickering back to whiteness.

The door stood wide open, and Jess dashed to it, finding Amy on the ground in the hallway. She pulled her legs to her and kept her hands pressed hard over her eyes. Rory rushed through the hall and dropped down beside her.

“What happened?” He asked, looking from Amy up to Jess.

Jess carefully knelt next to her. “She looked into the time vortex. She saw a hologram of it, and it burned her eyes.”

Fear passed over Rory's features. “Will she be alright? What do we do?”

“Calm down.” Jess responded, looking up just in time to see the Doctor skid around the corner. He was quickly putting together what had happened. Jess ignored him, looking back at Amy.

“Move your hands.” She spoke tenderly.

Amy hesitated, but slowly removed her hands. Her eyes burned with a golden light, searing into her retinas.

“You looked at a hologram of the time vortex.” She told them. “The same energy the TARDIS feeds off of. The raw power of the universe. If it had been the real thing, you'd have burned in an instant. Luckily, it was just a picture, and you'll be fine. Like staring at the sun too long. Blink.”

Amy followed instructions, tears pouring down her face as she did so. Slowly, the light began to fade and Amy looked right into Jess's eyes with a gentle smile.

Jess helped her to stand, letting Rory hold her balance.

“Get her to bed.” the Doctor spoke softly, staring at Jess.

Jess nodded and Rory obeyed, carrying Amy off. “Doctor.”

“Jess.”

Silence filled the hallway, until the Doctor spoke once more.

“You were on the observation deck.” He said it matter-of-factly.

Jess nodded. “I was. “

“You looked into the time vortex and didn't burn up.”

Jess said nothing.

“Please.” Desperation filled the Doctor's voice, mixed with heartbreak and pain and emotions neither could put names to. “Just tell me who you are.”

“I promised, Doctor.” Jess told him. “I promised someone very important that I would tell you everything, tomorrow.”

The Doctor's lip twitched up into the smallest of smiles. “Which tomorrow?”

Jess wiped a tear from her face and stepped back, away from the man whose gaze pierced into her very soul. “Christmas.”

“Which Christmas?” He asked, the tension cut by the ringing of a phone.

It seemed like slow motion that Jess pulled her phone from her back pocket and answered.

“Jess.” The voice on the other end was breathing hard.

“Dad?” She asked, recognizing Jack's voice. They'd only talked a handful of times since they had first met, but she could tell something was wrong. “What's wrong?”

“Remember what you said last time we talked?” He asked. “Well, it's happening. Daleks, coming through the rift. We need you guys, like now.”

“When is now?” Jess asked.

The Doctor watched her face pale as Jack told her the date. She nodded and hung up, placing the phone back into her pocket. When she looked up, she met the Doctor's eyes. Curiosity in his, fear in hers.

“Christmas.” She answered his question. “December 25, 2034.”

 


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't have internet anymore right now....I've had to hook my laptop up to mobile hotspot on my phone (which is going to kill my data, probably) but it was worth it to get to post on here. I'll keep updated as much as I can because this next few set of chapters is going to get really intense.

The TARDIS careened through the Time Vortex, spinning and wheezing and throwing its occupants into each other. The ship gave a particularly hard turn, sending Jess flying into the Doctor's arms as they raced to the control room.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, her face pressing into his shoulder. She met his eyes when he pulled her up to stand back on her own two feet, but the warning sirens distracted her from finding anything in his gaze other than pain and confusion.

She stepped back, pressing her hand against the wall to keep herself steady. The Doctor had stopped running, and just stood there, staring at her.

“Come on.” She called to him, and spun around while his mouth still hung open in mid-word. She didn't bother to try to hear what he'd been going to say. “We've got to get to the control room!”

She left him behind, running full speed through the corridors. She slammed into the walls and fell to the ground, but she kept running through the halls until she finally flew down the steps and grabbed hold of the control panel.

She flung down the big lever, spun the dial, dashed around the console and hit the stabilizers. The TARDIS shuddered and calmed itself as Jess slipped to the ground, holding on to the panel as tight as she could.

She pulled herself back onto her feet and took a deep breath, feeling a piercing gaze on her back. She glanced over to find the Doctor standing at the top of the steps, holding onto the railing with one hand and staring at her wide eyed.

She said nothing, adjusted the course of the TARDIS for the destination that she wanted. She flipped the last lever and then stepped away from the control panel. Her feet carried her slowly up the stairs, but her eyes would not meet his. She stopped, standing beside him on the stairs.

“I know you don't trust me, Doctor.” She told him. “And after everything is said and done, you'll have many more reasons not to.”

She turned to look into his eyes, tears brimming in her own, threatening to fall. “If you don't want to be a part of this, then you can just drop me off and leave. You'll never have to see me again, if that's what you want....but..”

“Jess...” The Doctor called her name softly, but she shook her head and took another step, behind him, to the top of the staircase.

“There are Daleks spilling out the the Rift, and there are only two people in the universe who can stop it. You and me.” She told the Doctor, hands clenching into fists as she felt him behind her, turning to look up at her back. “I can do it myself...if I have to.”

“Okay.” His voice came to her, empty and unreadable. Her heart snapped in two at the sound of it.

She turned around and met his eyes, a single tear falling down her cheek. “Please, Doctor.” She begged, reaching out to touch his cheek. She pressed her fingers lightly to his jaw, traced up his cheek and flattened her palm against the warm skin. “Please don't make me face the Daleks alone.”

She shut her eyes, staving off the flow of tears. A warm hand placed itself over her own and her body lurched with a sob.

“Jessica Harkness.” Her name sounded like gold on his tongue, her lips trembled. “My anomaly. I thought you knew me. Almost better than I know me. How could I have got it all wrong, eh?”

Jess opened her eyes at this statement, finding him looking at her with moist eyes and a sad smile. He pulled her hand from his face and turning it over in her own.

“How could I ever leave you to face the Daleks alone?” He asked her.

She sniffled, smiling. “Thank you, Doctor.”

He pulled away then, the warmth of his skin on hers disappearing with the smile on his face. He looked at her, eyes dark. “But that's it, Jess. After the Daleks are defeated, you're going to stay with Jack. You can't...” He turned away from her, pressing his fingers into the bridge of his nose. “You can't stay on the TARDIS anymore.”

Silence fell between them. Jess nodded. “I understand.”

She watched him walk to the console and start messing with the dials. For a moment, she just stood there and tried to memorize everything about that scene. It would be the last time she'd see it, wouldn't it? After this, she'd never again get to see him fiddling with the dials or tinkering with the controls. This was the end.

She took a deep breath, stilled herself, and then walked away. Down through the halls, she walked slowly. She had all the time in the world to get ready for this. The TARDIS would not land until she was ready. She took her time, pausing when she walked by an open door.

She saw Rory inside, Amy laying in a bed. She stood in the doorway for a while.

“What's going on?” Rory asked, not looking up from the bed where Amy rested.

“Something important.” Jess responded. “And I...I've a favor to ask of you.”

Amy sat up, her eyes still closed. Her expression pained as she tried to open them, but Rory hushed her and pressed his hand over her eyes. Still, she spoke. “Anything you want. We'll do it.”

“I'm sorry.” Jess said suddenly. “About your eyes. Humans aren't meant to look into the Time Vortex. You're lucky it was just a hologram, but you should be able to see properly again withint the next few hours or so.”

“It's bad, isn't it?” Amy asked, suddenly.

Jess nodded. “Yeah.”

“How bad, exactly?” Rory asked.

“Daleks are coming through the Rift. Everyone's in danger. The Doctor and I are going to stop them. I have to ask you both. Please. Whatever you do. Stay in the TARDIS. Don't come out. Don't try to help. Just stay here. I...I'll come back to say goodbye when it's over.”

“Like hell we're staying behind.” Amy snapped.

Rory picked up on something entirely different. “You're not coming back?”

Jess shook her head. “This is the last stop for me. I'm going to stay behind with my dad. Help out in Torchwood, I guess.”

Amy frowned. “He's making you leave, isn't he? He'll change his mind. After he finds out, he'll change his mind.”

Jess laughed, shaking her head once more. “I don't think so. But don't worry. I was expecting this. I knew it would turn out this way. Just please. I would never be able to forgive myself if either of you were hurt because of me.”

“We're still going to help.” Amy responded. “As soon as my head stops hurting, we're going with you both and you can't stop us.”

“I can't ask you to do this for me.” Jess said. “But thank you...thank you for staying by my side through it.”

Amy nodded, though her eyes had closed again. Jess mimicked the sentiment and left the two of them. She found her own room and slipped inside. With a deep sigh, she opened the drawer of her nightstand and removed the ratty old coat. It was about time this thing saw the light of day. The Doctor, her mum's Doctor, had told her she'd need it when this happened.

She changed her clothes, changed into something more familiar, more fitting. Brown jeans and boots, cream colored top and a brown vest. She wrapped a braided brown leather belt around her waist and to it attached her drawstring bag. Her pair pulled back into a pony tail.

She took a deep breath and looked in the mirror as she slipped the coat onto her shoulders. It fit like it always had. A bit too big, burned at the bottom that shortened it to just below her knees. The right arm singed off and the lapel on the left burned as well. A hole in one side and tears in the back. She looked right for war.

She brought her arm up, inspecting the silver bracelet on her wrist. The only thing that looked out of place. She brushed a finger across it and the Sonic Watch reappeared in place on her arm.

“Alright.” She told herself solemnly, turning out the door. “To war.”

 


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and the adventure begins! but that's all it is. The very beginning. Lots more running to do!

Jess stepped out of the corridor and into the control room of the TARDIS. Her coat swished around her knees and three people looked up at her.

She met Amy's eyes and gave the girl a nod. She wore dark glasses to protect her eyes from the light until her head had calmed down from its shock. Rory held her hand. The Doctor refused to look up at her.

She bit her lip and took a deep breath. She wasn't going to let the Doctor see her breaking. She would do as she always did. Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up. Never give in. The smile on her face didn't come forced. Her heart beat in her ears and she raced down the stairs.

“Alright.” She told them all. “There's a few things you all need to know before we rush out those doors.”

“And what's that?” Amy asked, excited smile on her face.

“The Daleks are bleeding through the Rift, the same path I took. They're following me through because they think they'll find the Doctor if they do.”

“But why Daleks?” Rory asked. “I thought you ran from the Master, so why Daleks?”

Jess turned to Rory, but the Doctor's eyes behind him caught her attention. He looked at her with a dark air of recognition.

“The Master sent the Daleks.” Jess answered, looking at Rory. “He controls them. He created them.”

“Davros created the Daleks.” The Doctor responded, darkly. “And he died.”

“The Master created these.” Jess responded. “And they're here for only one reason.”

“Me.” Bitterness filled the Doctor's voice, a venom that shown on his face.

Jess bit her lip and then nodded. She pulled open her drawstring back and reached inside, pulling out something. Small and slender, a gun. The barel looked eerily like the eyestalk of a Dalek. She pulled out another and handed one each to Amy and Rory.

“You're going to need these.” She told them. “Adapted from Dalek equipment. They're the only things that work on them.”

“You have Dalek killing guns?” The Doctor asked. “In that tiny little bag?”

Jess looked at him, then looked away with a smirk. Her eyes focused on the screen of the TARDIS. “It's bigger on the inside.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to talk, but promptly shut it when Amy ribbed him with her elbow. Jess tapped in something on the control panel and turned to the others.

“December 25, 2034.” She told them. “We've landed just outside of the National Museum. This is where the Daleks are getting in from. We've got to find the gap and close it, then stop the Daleks that've already gotten through. Dad and the other Torchwood crew are already there.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Amy grinned, cocking her gun. “Let's go kill us some Daleks.”

The Doctor spun on her. “Amy, you don't understand how serious this is, do you? These are Daleks! Show a little fear.”

“Why?” Jess asked. “Do you really think it's better to fear them, Doctor?”

He spun and looked at her, but said nothing. The door of the TARDIS flung open and three people dashed inside, all dressed in black. Jack, Martha, and Mickey.

Three of the Doctor's companions. He spun to look at them, taken aback. “Mickey! Martha!” He grinned widely, glancing at his new companions and then back at the old ones. “Captain Jack. You haven't changed at all.”

“You have.” Martha spoke up.

“New face.” Jack grinned. “I like it.”

“Don't even start.” Jess snapped at him.

“Come on!” another voice called from the door, bringing the focus back to them. It was Ianto, and he sounded scared.

The group rushed out of the TARDIS to see where they'd landed. People were screaming, running for their lives to evacuate the museum while Daleks chased them, shooting them. Many got away, but some weren't so lucky. They seemed to have not noticed the TARDIS, parked between some trees to the side of the building.

“How do you even suppose we stop this?” Rory asked, watching as even now the fabric of reality seemed to waver and ripple and Daleks poured out of the tears.

“But that....that's not possible.” The Doctor said, grabbing his screwdriver and pointing it at one of the portals. “Where's that coming from?”

Jess put her hand over the Sonic before the Doctor could start his scans. “You'll draw their attention.” She told him.

He turned his attention to her and she gave him the smallest of smiles. “Starting now, a lot of impossible things will happen.”

She could see him fighting his own smile, but in the end his lips turned up into a wide, excited grin. “What's the plan, then?”

Everyone looked to Jess, when in situations like this it was the Doctor all eyes would be upon. She glanced around, looking at everything. She checked the time on her watch.

“We need to shut off the portals.” She told them. “If we can just shut the doors...”

“And how are we going to do that?” Amy asked.

Martha spoke up. “We've been studying it for a while.” She told them. “When we started getting readings similar to the ones when Jess came through. We've been trying to find a way of shutting the link down. We think we've found something...”

“And?” someone asked.

“It's impossible.” Jack said.

Jess, of course, grinned. “Now, Dad. What did I just tell the Doctor about impossible things?”

Jack rolled his eyes, and then someone screamed. Everyone jumped to the ground as a blast hit nearby. The voice of Daleks rose up around them, calling for the Doctor's appearance, calling out their warning “EXTERMINATE!!”

“Run!” Jess ordered, grabbing the hand nearest to her and pulling. The hand belonged to the Doctor. She pulled him up off the ground and dashed with the group, running full speed around the building.

“Wait!” The Doctor yelled out. “The TARDIS! We can't leave her!”

“They're not interested in the TARDIS!” Jess glanced back as she yelled at him. The Daleks didn't seem to have any interest in the ship. They just moved right past it as they chased the group. Three of them, shooting at them but missing. Narrowly.

“In here!” Jack called, throwing open a large metal door. Amy spun around, holding up the end of the group as everyone filed into the room.

She pulled her gun up and aimed it at one of the Daleks, squeezing the trigger. A great hiss erupted from it and a familiar bolt of light slammed right into the Dalek's casing, leaving it a mangled mess.

Amy cheered before dodging another blast from the remaining two. The Doctor pulled her into the room and the door slammed shut behind them.

He waved his Sonic Screwdriver around the edges of the door as he spoke. “This won't hold them long, we've got to keep moving. We need a plan, who's got a plan? Jack, didn't you say you had a plan?” He spun and looked at the group, his eyes meeting every face but Jess's.

“Martha said we've got a plan.” Jack told them. “I told you it was impossible.”

“We've worked with less.” The Doctor told them.

Jess watched back and forth as the Doctor and Jack bantered back and forth. She turned her attention to Amy and Rory. She had her head resting on his shoulder, sitting in the corner of the store room atop a crate labeled “Fragile”

“You alright?” Jess asked.

Amy nodded. “Fine. Just the headache. I'll be fine.”

Jess reached up carefully and pressed her fingers to Amy's temple. “Your brain is still burning. Slowly, but it is. Doctor!”

She turned and the Doctor was at her side in a second, looking Amy over.

“Is there anything you can do?” She asked.

The Doctor nodded. “I can erase the memory from her mind, but it'll have some side effects.”

“Side effects? What side effects?” Amy snapped.

Jess bit her lip and looked at the Doctor. “You might forget...everything else.”

“Not a chance.” Amy almost growled. “Don't worry about me. We'll figure me out after we stop the Daleks.”

“But Amy...” The Doctor started.

Amy would hear none of it, but they didn't have any more time for that. The Daleks were at the door, and their guns were denting the sturdy metal.

“We've got to move.” Jack called. Martha and Mickey had already disappeared into the hallway.

Jess glanced at the Doctor as Rory helped Amy to follow them.

“I promise you, Doctor.” Jess said. “No harm will come to them. I swear it.”

His lips tightened into a thin line. He responded with silence and followed Jack out into the hallway.

They darted through the halls of the museum, finding themselves locked once more in another room.

“Oh, a gift shop.” The Doctor grinned, immediately darting through the aisles once he'd Soniced the door locked behind them. “Always loved a gift shop.”

“This is no time, Doctor.” Jess told him, sitting at the small table next to Jack. “We need to know the plan.”

 


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

“That's completely impossible.” The Doctor said, dropping his hands onto the table.

Everyone had gathered around the little table behind the counter of the gift shop. Jack had just finished explaining his plan. Jess was sitting in a chair in the corner, watching everything going on while she played with her Sonic.

The Doctor glanced at her. “Oh, so now you've got a Sonic...what is that, a Sonic Watch? What good will that do?”

Jess smirked. “What better for a time traveller to have?”

The Doctor made a face, finding her logic sound. Unusual, but sound. “You've never worn it before.”

“I've always worn it.” She pouted.

To this, the Doctor raised an eyebrow. Jess simply stood and responded. “The Chamileon Circuit was my Mum's idea.” And before letting the Doctor respond, she turned to Jack. “You're going to need a refractor. Something that can transmit the engery signal through the entire rift.”

“There's no subastance that exists with the capability to handle that amount of power. Even the hardest diamonds on Earth would dissolve under that amount of power.” The Doctor stated. “Nothing exists anymore than can handle it.”

“You don't have anything on your TARDIS that could do it, Doctor?” Jack asked.

Before the Doctor could answer, Jess spoke up. “You just leave that part to me.” She glanced at the Doctor as she spoke the next part. “All you need to do is find the link between this side and that one...it's got to be destroyed before the link can be broken and the portals close for good.”

“But it's impossible!” The Doctor tried one more time, and Jess spun on him.

“Oh please, Doctor. The word impossible doesn't even have a definition in your vocabulary. Really, the man who boasts to do five impossible things before breakfast, even, sitting here talking to me about something impossible? Don't make me laugh. We don't have the time.”

“Don't have the time?” Amy asked.

Jess nodded, glancing at her watch. “We've got twenty minutes to close those gaps, or this whole world will be destroyed.”

“Are there really that many Daleks on the other side?” Ianto was the one to speak up and ask this. Jess had almost not even noticed him with them until he did. He was holding onto Jack's shoulder as the American sat.

Jess's face fell, her eyes closed. “Not so many.” She told them. “I came through first, there were only about a hundred that followed me through...but it's not the Daleks that you should be worried about. It's the explosion.”

“What explosion?” The Doctor asked.

Jess looked at him. “The Master destroyed my world, remember? I told you that, but I never said how. He blew it up. He found the most powerful weapon in all the universe and he detonated it inside the heart of a living TARDIS and he destroyed the whole of reality. If we don't get that hole plugged, then that explosion is going to bleed through to this one, and that explosion happened on December 25. Today. This year. In twenty minutes exactly.”

“Then we've got no time to waist.” Martha stepped up, Mickey right beside her. “Tell us what we need to do.”

Jess nodded. She turned to Jack. “I assume you've got UNIT out there trying to contain the Daleks?”

Jack nodded.

“They can handle that, then. What I need you guys to do is to find the link, the thing holding the Daleks to this point in the universe.” She paced as she spoke, all eyes on her.

“What would that be, then?” Rory asked.

“The First Dalek.” The Doctor responded. “The very first one that came through the gap. It's what is allowing all the other Daleks to reach this time and place. If they've got a lock on it, then they can all coem through. Break that link, and any Dalek that steps through the gap will have no control over where they end up. Could be any place, and any time.”

“That doesnt' sound much better.” Amy pointed out.

“Unless.” Jess spoke up. “We send the link back into the rift and close it.”

“Oh, that's brilliant.” The Doctor beamed. “Send the link back into the void and lock the doors. Any Dalek that follows it will find itself trapped in the void forever.”

Jess grinned at the praising look in the Doctor's eyes. He returned her grin as they continued talking, back and forth, each finishing the other's sentence as they fully formed their plan more and more.

“Well, you two were just made for each other.” Martha spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest, a joking smile on her face.

They stopped talking and turned to look at her. The Doctor's smile had faded and returned to the dark expression he'd been wearing before. Jess hid her blush and looked away.

“That still doesn't explain how we're going to shut the fissures down.” Jack responded, looking between the two of them.

“Leave that to me.” Jess responded. “Mickey and Martha can come help me, the rest of you go with the Doctor.”

She spun around and turned to Amy, who had started rubbing her temples again. “Don't worry, Amy.” She responded softly. “It'll get better soon.”

“Take this.” Amy said, handing Jess back the gun. “You guys might need one too.”

Jess nodded, taking the gun and handing it to Mickey. She never liked using guns, herself.

“Alright, let's go.”

Jess reached the door first, beaming her Sonic at is and undoing the Doctor's locks. She peeked the door open and looked through.

“All clear.” She whispered.

Outside the door, Mickey, Martha, and Jess left one direction while everyone else went the other way. The Daleks could still be heard pounding on the door outside. Jess motioned them to be as quiet as possible.

Silence and stealth came as no problem to the Smiths. Years working for UNIT before getting involved with Torchwood had made them experts at it. They were shocked, though, at the amount of stealth they found in Jess. It was like she could simply disappear at will, if she wanted, they thought.

Winding through corridors and around monuments and exhibits, hiding from Daleks as they inched their way back towards the front doors of the great museum, Jess would have been standing behind them, and then seconds later they would see her far ahead, motioning them to hurry.

The three of them ducked behind a great large column on the outside of the building, a Dalek patrol paced just feet in front of them.

“The TARDIS is right over there.” Jess whispered, pointing to the jumble of trees and bushes with just the smallest bit of dark blue peeking from behind. No Daleks stood near it, didn't even seem to notice it or care that it was there.

“Why aren't they after it?” Martha asked. “It's the TARDIS.”

Jess glanced at her. “Because they're more interested in me.”

“Wait..” Mickey said. “What about the key? How are we going to get in the TARDIS once we get there?”

“That's right.” Martha said. “We don't have keys anymore.”

“Don't worry. The TARDIS will let us in.” Jess responded.

Martha and Jess shared a look, and a short nod. With a great cry of “RUN!” the three of them burst out from behind the pillar and high tailed it through the courtyard. Mickey turned, shooting the gun at the Daleks as they turned to fire upon them.

Each time his shots landed home, the Dalek would explode into a pillar of smoke and metal. Bolts flew around their heads as they ran, straight at the doors.

Jess plugged two fingers into her mouth and gave a high, loud whistle. The TARDIS door swung open, as if on command, and the three rushed inside. The doors snapped just behind them. The Smiths fell onto the stairs, breathing hard as they tried to catch their breaths.

Jess hopped up the steps and continued to the console. She started pulling out wires from beneath, rearranging them, tapping into the console.

When Martha finally looked up at the interior of the TARDIS, she gasped. “Well, sure had changed since the last time I was in here.”

“You can say that again.” Mickey agreed.

“Alot has changed since the last time you saw the Doctor.” Jess spoke, not looking up from her work as the Smiths made their way up to the console and watched her.

“So....what are you doing then?” Martha asked after a few minutes.

“I'm rewiring the TARDIS to send a wave of Huon particles into the Rift through a Particle Beam Phaser. Only the TARDIS doesn't have a Particle Beam Phaser, so I'm rerouting the Reality Engine through the console, to localize the blast zone through the exterior port.”

“What?” Mickey asked, completely stumped by the language the woman was using.

She glanced up at him from beneath the controls. “The little light on top of the TARDIS, yeah? I'm turning it into a cannon.”

“Well.” Martha leaned back against the railing. “You are a bright one....how do you know so much about the TARDIS?”

Jess glanced at her. “This isn't the first TARDIS I've been on.”

Silence fell between them once more until Jess finally made her way out from under the controls.

“Alright, the TARDIS is going to follow my movements.” She told them. “You'll be able to see what's going on outside the TARDIS, and when I give you the signal press down on this lever. No matter what happens, you make sure this lever stays down.” She glanced between the tow of them shoving her hands into the pocket on her coat. “The TARDIS won't like it, she'll try to fight you on it, but make sure the lever stays down until the portals close.”

Martha nodded, and just as Jess was about to step outside of the TARDIS, back into the blast of the Daleks, she spoke. “I still don't understand. We don't have that refractor the Doctor was talking about. How are we going to close the portals without that?”

Jess pulled her hand from her pocket. Between her fingers, a brilliant diamond glittered. “The Doctor gave it to me.” She told them. “A white point star. Said I might need it one day. Didn't know what he meant until just now, but I think he knew....all along, I think he knew what was going to happen.”

Martha gave a knowing laugh, the smallest of chuckles. “Yeah, he does that.”

 


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Kids. This is where it gets complicated!   
> Nah, I just like saying that.   
> but it does get a bit....unusual~

Jess peeked out the doors of the TARDIS. Surprisingly, the area was void of the Daleks that moments before had been blasting at the door. She stepped out to find the shattered hulls of almost ten Daleks around her. Five more blasting in the opposite direction at UNIT soldiers.

Jess ducked behind the TARDIS with the gun in hand, out of the way of fire. She peeked around and gave a few blasts from her gun, taking out the remaining Daleks. She ran towards the UNIT officers and skidded to a halt in front of their leader, a burly man with grey hair.

He introduced himself as Colonel Litens and a salute.

“Why are you saluting?” Jess asked. “I'm not an officer, don't salute me. Just point me to the Doctor.”

“He sent us out here soon as we found him, Ma'am.” The Colonel stated. “He's making his way up the museum. Said he found the link.” The words sounded foreign from the soldier's tongue. “Told me if I saw a blonde with a gun to send her to the Egyptian Exhibit.”

Jess nodded, patted the man on the shoulder, and dashed off. The UNIT soldiers continued to patrol the area, looking for and destroying the rest of the Daleks. Jess handed off her gun to one of them and dashed back into the museum.

She spun around the corners of the corridor, dodging blasts from both Daleks and UNIT soldiers. Rubble crunched beneath her feet, some of it stone. Some of it flesh. She whinced as she tried not to tread on the bodies of fallen soldiers and civilians caught before Jack and his team had arrived. The bodies of children huddled in corners, fear frozen on their faces even in death.

Jess paused, unable to look away from the sight. A tear found its way down her face, covered now in dust from the battlefield that had once been a great monument to the past. This was all the Master's doing, and for what? For one single person? This was madness.

A new resolve found itself into her heart and she turned, walking with purpose through the rubble and the battle, into an area of the museum where the fight had not yet reached. A great arch seperated this hall from the rest, filled with trinkets and coffins, all with ancient heiroglyphics scrawled on them. She caught, in passing, a small slab of stone upon which a short story of a god and goddess and a blue box, saving the land from a great flood. She smiled.

At the far end of the hall, she saw them. Two Daleks, pinning them into the corner. Jack on his knees, holding onto a body. Tears in his eyes. Jess's heart stopped when she saw the familiar look of death on Ianto's face. The Dalek had killed him. Rory held Amy in his arms, hiding her from the Daleks while she kept her hand pressed over her eyes. Steam hissed from beneath her hands. Jess could imagine the pain she was under, but it would all end soon.

The Doctor met her eyes, holding his Sonic Screwdriver out in front of him, brandishing it as a weapon in front of the two Daleks.

“I am the First Dalek.” One of the Daleks spoke in its halting, mechanical voice. “And many more shall come after. This world shall be ours.”

“This world will never be yours.” Amy snapped at the Daleks. Despite the pain, she was still Amy, sassy and angry.

“Silence!” The other Dalek spoke. “Give us the Child of Time and you will be spared.”

“Spared?” The Doctor asked, an almost laugh in his voice.

“Spared for last.” The First Dalek responded. “Give up, Doctor. You cannot defeat us. You have nothing.”

Jess stepped up, then. “You're right.”

All eyes landed on her. The two Daleks spun around so they could also see her. She smirked and kept on speaking.

“He's got no TARDIS. No plan.” Her eyes looked past the Daleks as she strode right up to them, hands in the pockets of her coat. “No time. No hope.” She pulled her hand out of her pocket long enough to give one of the Daleks a nice hard pat on its shell. “Well, he's got a Sonic Screwdriver, but what's he gonna do with that? Assemble a cabinet at you?”

She laughed, and stepped between the Doctor and the Daleks as they simply continued to watch her. She met the Doctor's eyes. “But you know what he does have?” She asked them.

“What does the Doctor have?” One of the Daleks asked, and there was hesitance in its voice.

Jess gave the Doctor a smirk and spun, looking the First Dalek right in its eyestalk. “He's got me.” She said, her voice dangerous. “And what I've got is something much scarier than anything the Doctor could ever have.”

“What's that?” The question came from behind her, from the Doctor himself, stepping up with his hands raised in front of him in that oh so endearing way Jess had grown so fond of in the last half year.

She turned and looked at him with a sad smile on her face. “I've got nothing to lose.”

The expression on the Doctor's face changed. Fading through confusion, fear, regret, pain, all in matters of seconds and settling on a mixture of all of them as Jess turned back to face the Daleks. A tear glimmered against her dusty cheek as she looked upon the Daleks.

“Which one of you did it?” She asked, glancing at Ianto's body.

“I killed the human.” The Dalek spoke, the other one, and the smile that came to Jess's face after that was twisted, dangerous. Broken.

“Are you afriad, Dalek?” She asked, the tears heard in her voice.

“Daleks do not fear.” The First Dalek responded.

“You should.” Jess responded, smirking. She held up her hand from her pocket, settled between the tips of her fingers she held a small roll of tape. “Picked this up from the gift shop. Thought I might need something to keep that...” She pointed towards the First Dalek's back. “On you.”

The other Dalek turned to look where she had placed, it's voice rising up in alarm. “Alert! Danger! White Point Star located! Danger! EXTERMINATE THE CHILD OF TIME!”

“A white point star?” Jess wanted to laugh at the surprise of the Doctor behind her. She didn't turn to see his face. “Where did you get that? That's...”

“If you say impossible one more time, Doctor.” Jess interrupted him. “I'm going to smack you.”

“Impossible.” He finished his sentence, defiance in his voice, and stepped back starttled when Jess spun on her heel and planted a slap right on his cheek.

The Daleks continued to scream out their warnings, moving back. The sound of lasers charging burned through the air.

“SILENCE!” Jess ordered, her eyes meeting the Doctor's for the breifest of moments before she turned on heel to look at the Daleks. They had powered down their lasers and sat in stunned silence at her command, as if by some force of magic they had become controlled by her.

“Four minutes.” She muttered to herself, glancing down at her watch. The time flashed at 4:33pm.

“Do you fear me, Daleks?” She asked, her voice gentle, calm. A bright golden light shone from inside her eyes, leaking out against her skin and wrapping around her like a cloak. “Do you fear the big. Bad. Wolf?”

The Daleks looked between each other, then their eyestalks twisted back to land on Jess as both squealed out “AFFIRMATIVE!!”

The smile on Jess's face came with a serene glow and damp cheeks. She cried as the light of the Bad Wolf enveloped her brain, burning it as quickly as it healed her. The pain was almost too much to handle, but it was a familiar and beautiful pain.

“My mum is Rose Tyler, and I am her daughter. I am the new Bad Wolf.” She stated in her serene, ethereal voice. “I can see the gaps of reality and I demand them open.”

With the simple raise of her hand, a portal appeared behind the First Dalek, the fabric of reality wavering and spinning and rippling like the surface of a lake. Light traveled in a winding pattern down her arm, to the tips of her fingers as she pointed towards the Dalek, and blasted out towards it, sending it back into the void between universes.

She could feel eyes on her. All eyes, even those of Amelia Pond. Brave, brilliant, wonderful Amelia Pond with the universe burning inside of her head.

Jess spun around to the other Dalek, looking at it as it quaked beneath her power. As it begged for mercy.

“Did you show him mercy?” Jess asked, her golden glowing eyes turning upon the lifeless form of Ianto Jones. “Tell me, Dalek. If you can't show mercy, then why should I?”

The Dalek paused for a moment, its eyestalk wavering upon her before turning to look at those behind her. “You are a companion of the Doctor.” His voice came out with the metalic waver of a Dalek, but no conviction was heard there.

“Am I?” Her voice broke. Another tear found its way down her cheek and the pain in her head amplified. “I would think....not.”

“You are an associate of the Doctor. You will show mercy.” The Dalek repeated.

“I will not kill you.” Jess responded. “But that is all the mercy you shall receive. Instead, you shall be punished.”

“Punished?” The Dalek questioned, and then raised its beam towards Jess. “You shall be exterminated!”

A beam shot from the Dalek, aimed straight towards Jess. Once more, she rose her hand and it met the beam, dissolving into nothing.

“I can see into your mind, Dalek. From your beginning to your end. Every moment, every molecule, every cell and every thought. You have no love and no mercy, and that shall be your downfall. I break you, Dalek.” Her hands reached up, reaching out to the Dalek. Golden light trailed in ribbons from her fingers to wrap around the Dalek's shell. “I give you eternal life. I give you pain, I give you fear, I give you a human heart. And I banish you. All of you, every Dalek on this planet. To the furthest reaches of the universe and never to return.”

As she spoke, the light around the Dalek began to disolve it, to fade it away and send it across the universe. Outside the window, if the others had bothered to look, they would have seen the same thing happening to Daleks all over the grounds. Each and every one of them, disappearing with a great hiss in the golden light of the universe and time itself.

The shimmer of the portal still whirlled as Jess turned upon the Doctor. She looked to Jack and Ianto. “I'm so sorry...” Jack looked up at her, tears in his eyes.

“Can't you save him?” He asked.

Jess did not answer, instead she turned upon the Doctor. “Our business is not yet done. The portals must be closed.”

“We'd need to flood the rift from both sides, we can't..I don't know..” The Doctor shook his head, stepping away from her, his screwdriver pointed at her the way it had been at the Daleks. His eyes darted around, searching her, confused and unsure, and hurting.

“Leave that to me, Doctor.” She spoke, stepping towards him in a wake of golden light. She smiled sadly at him. “I can feel your hurt, Doctor.”

“Why?” He asked softly, whispering to her as she placed her hand upon his cheek. “How is this possible? Why didn't you tell me?”

“I couldn't risk you changing things.” She told him. “Established events, and all.”

“But why come to me?” He asked, placing his hand atop hers against his cheek. A tear fell from his eye as well.

“I made a promise.” She said. “There's only two minutes left, Doctor. I must go, and she wants to say a final goodbye.”

“Who?” The Doctor asked, but he got no response.

Instead, Jess stepped away from him and allowed the golden light to envelop her, to wrap around her and fill every cell of her being. She felt herself being pulled through space and time, through universes.

When the golden light faded away, where once stood Jess, now stood a new woman, dressed in jeans and a jumper with a pink cap on her blonde hair. Rose Tyler, somewhere in her forties. Probably.

She looked just as shocked to be standing in front of a group of people – only one of which she recognized – as the group did to see her.

 


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so apparently, without internet, my word processor won't spell check? losing internet messed up the whole program and I've no idea how to fix it. but I'm getting the net back monday so I can do that. until then, mobile hot spot uploads! woot woot!
> 
> Did you think this would happen? I'm sure you knew it was coming.

  “Oh that...” The Doctor whispered, flinching as he looked at the form of Rose Tyler in front of him. “That's just....cruel.”

“Rose?” Jack called from beside him, arms wrapped around Ianto's body as he looked up at the woman who had just appeared. “Is it really you?”

“Jack?” Rose turned to him. Her voice, like her face, had aged. It brought a whimper from deep inside the Doctor's chest, straight out of the pain of his two hearts.

Her eyes turned upon him and he found himself straightening up, looking at her with what he was only sure was a look of pain and confusion, and maybe a little hope. Why hope, thoguh, he wondered. Hope?

“Hello, Doctor.” His name on her voice split him in two.

“Hello, Rose.” He smiled when he said her name. He took a careful step towards her. “You've gotten older.”

“So have you.” Tears came out as she laughed, the same old grin the Doctor remembered from his past life.

“But how?” He asked, reaching up to touch her.

“Just a projection.” Rose said, mirroring words the Doctor once heard from his own voice. “No touch.”

His hand dropped to his sides. “Can't you come through properly?” Why not play it out as it once had been, he thought bitterly.

Rose gave a pained laugh at the memory clear in her eyes. “It's Jess.” She said. “She's projected me onto her conscience. I'm still standing in the TARDIS in my universe.”

“Oh...” The Doctor's voice hummed out, and then repeated the sound with a burst of understanding lighting up his eyes. “Oh! But that...that's brilliant!”

“What, Doctor?” Amy asked, her voice weakening as Rory held onto her. “What's brilliant?”

The Doctor forced himself to stay still when he wanted to flit around the room with excitement. He just couldn't bring himself to stop looking at Rose. Still, he spoke with the childlike wonder and amazement that he always seemed to have in this incarnation.

“Jess has switched her conscience with that of her mum. She brought Rose to this dimention while she's in the other. That gives her two minutes to set the TARDIS in that dimention to blast the Huon energy into the rift from that side and close th gate!”

“But Doctor.” Rose's voice wiped the excitement right off his face. “The TARDIS is dead.”

“Dead?” He paused. “What do you mean dead?”

Rose smiled sadly. “She gave the last of her life to send Jess through to this universe.”

“That amount of power should have killed her.” The Doctor stated, looking up at Rose with the unasked question in his eyes.

“The TARDIS became part of her, Doctor.” Rose said. “It didn't just go into her, like it did for me. It linked itself into her soul. Jess and the TARDIS have become one. It will not kill her. It sustains her.”

“That's not possible.” The Doctor muttered.

Rose laughed. “Jess seems to have something against you saying that.”

At this, the Doctor laughed as well. His mind was going, spinning and whirling with all the information and all the possibilities in his head. If the TARDIS in that world was dead, how would she blast through the energy.

“Oh...Oh no...” The Doctor muttered out, looking in fear at the form of Rose. “She's going to kill herself.”

A tear slipped off Rose's face. “I know.”

“She can't...” Jack spoke up. “Why would she?”

At this, the Doctor glanced at him. “She'd tear universes apart to keep me safe.” He repeated words once spoken to him, with sadness in his eyes.

“And you sent her away.” Eyes darted back to the now angry form of Rose. “I can hear it in her head. Doctor, you sent her away?”

“I was afraid!” He defended himself. “What else was I supposed to do? Do you even know what it's like? She killed for me, Rose! She would tear universes apart for me, and I didn't even know who she was!”

“She never told you?” Rose tilted her head, blonde hair falling into her face. The watch on her wrist beeped. “One minute.”

The Doctor bit his lip, stepping towards Rose. “I promise you, Rose. I'll save her. I'll find a way.”

“Promise me, Doctor.” Rose said. “Promise me that you'll keep her safe.” A small laugh fell from her lips. “Well, as safe as anyone who travels with you.”

At this, Rose's eyes moved past the Doctor and on to Amy. Sadness fell upon her features. “Oh....Doctor, I'm so sorry.”

The Doctor's expression fell. “Jess knows it too, then.” It was not a question.

Rose nodded. “It's almost time. My universe is going to implode soon.”

“You...You're going to die?” A tear slipped through the Doctor's eyes.

Rose nodded. “I've died before. At least this time I've got you. Well, the other you.”

The Doctor found a smile on his face. “Is he there with you now?”

Rose nodded. “Always has been, plus or minus a few years or so either direction.”

The Doctor frowned while Rose laughed. “It's not that funny.”

“It's alright, Doctor.” She said. “Because you always come back to me.”

At this, the Doctor gave a careful, knowing smile.

“There's so much I want to say.” Rose sniffed.

“Me too.”

The watch on her wrist began to beep once more, a great golden light began to swell around Rose's body once more as the projection began to fade away.

“Wait, Doctor!” Rose called out, urgently. “There's something else I need to tell you! We found it!”

“Found what?” The Doctor asked, reaching out for Rose. He didn't want her to go. His hearts were breaking again.

The light brightened, blinding them, and then faded away. Jess fell into the Doctor's arms.

“NOW! MARTHA NOW!” She called out desperately with a last fading breath before going limp in the Doctor's arms.

A great whirring filled the air, the sound of the TARDIS, and a great bright white light poured from the portals, all over the museum, everywhere, the links between the two universes faded into the bright light.  


	30. Chapter Thirty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> getting the real internet back tomorrow! Excited, can't wait. So many unanswered questions, and even more popping up. It'll be wonderful. I hope. I think. Maybe.

“Is there anything we can do?” Martha asked, standing in the doorway of the TARDIS med bay.

She watched as the Doctor rushed around the room, pressing buttons and grabbing equipment. He picked up a white instrument that looked much like the scanner gun used in the shops. He swiped it over Jess's body as she lay suspended above the med table. The red lazer touched her skin and released an angry beep.

“Oh come on!” The Doctor groaned, throwing the instrument to the ground. “Why won't you work?!”

Martha quietly walked into the room and picked up the scanner, placing it back on the table. The Doctor had moved around her, typing furiously onto the computer, looking at the TARDIS monitor, and then going back to the bed to check the machine that held her suspended in the air.

“If you don't start helping me, she's going to die!” He finally yelled up at the ceiling, at the TARDIS.

The ship gave an angry whir, as if to refute his statement, and he fell into the chair beside Jess's bed, head in his hands.

“Doctor?” Martha spoke to him at length, when she was more hopeful that he wouldn't ignore or yell at her. He didn't, just looked up at her blankly. She paused at the expression in his face. A different face, different eyes, but that expression. It was something Martha could never forget. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I'm alright. Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be alright?” He pressed his lips against his clasped hands, elbows resting on his bouncing knees. He looked everywhere but at Martha, the only other person in the room – Jack and Mickey had decided to help with the clean up, while Rory had opted to sit just outside with Amy.

Martha wanted to kneel down and take the Doctor's hands into hers, make him look her in the eyes. She might have done so, with the old Doctor, her Doctor. But not this one. Instead, she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You just saw Rose again, Doctor.” She spoke carefully. “So I'll ask you again. Are you alright?”

For the first time in a while, he looked up at Martha. How many years had it been since he'd seen that face. She was older now, too. They all were, and he hadn't bothered to notice. Older, but still the same caring, wonderful Martha who had helped him when he'd first lost Rose. The Judoon, Professor Lazerus, Shakespeare and the Carionites. It all seemed so long ago, now.

“When did you get so old, Martha?” He asked, voice soft as his eyes as he looked up at her.

Her own hardened expression softened into the smallest of smiles. “And why do you look so much younger? How long has it been for you, Doctor? It's been what, twenty, twenty five years since I last saw you? How long's it been for you, eh?”

The Doctor gave a long, drawn out sigh, breathing air out through his nose and letting his shoulders fall, jacket discarded on the handle of the open door. “Oh, I don't know.” He muttered. “Two, three hundred years?”

Martha didn't know what she'd expected and hid the shock by walking over to Jess's suspended body and asking. “Is she going to be alright?”

“I don't know.” The Doctor answered honestly.

Martha glanced down to look at him, only to find him looking at Jess. His expression compelled her to speak. “Can't you just...pull it out of her? The way you did for Donna? For Rose?”

The Doctor shook his head. “This is different. I don't know if I can do it safely. It might kill her if I try. I don't know because the TARDIS still won't let me see her scans!” He shouted this part back up at the TARDIS.

The ship gave another angry hum, and the screen flickered on. Martha gasped out the Doctor's name and the two of them jumped up and nearly tripped over each other to get to the screen.

Martha looked at the strange readings. “I don't get it, Doctor. I don't understand.”

“That...” The Doctor gaped at the screen, hands finding the keyboard and typing in at rapid speeds. “That's impossible.”

He looked to Jess, almost hoping that she would just get up and slap him one for saying it again. She'd told him so many times that day not to say it. He hoped she'd make good on her threat, if only to see that she would survive this.

The screen beeped, flickered, and then brought back up the same screen they'd been looking at. The Doctor slammed his hands down on the console. “She's locked it on this screen. She won't show us any other readings.”

“What reading is this, Doctor?” Martha asked. She pointed to two small boxes in the corner. “That's her pulse and respiratory right? But what's this?” The part of the screen she pointed to now had a small moving picture on it.

A large ball, with a few smaller orbiting around it in random fashion. It looked like the models of atoms she'd made in science classes during primary school. The only difference being the current of light radiating around and throughout the structure.

“It's her atomic make-up.” He explained. “The most basic building blocks of who she is, past the cellular level...this is what her cells are made of.”

“But that's not right...” Martha stated the obvious.

The Doctor glanced at her and then typed something into the computer. This time, it seemed to work effortlessly. He glared up at the ceiling. “Now you work.” He chastized the ship.

The screen shut off until he apologized, and then it flickered back up to show a split screen. On one side, there was the same picture of the atomic structure of Jess's body. On the other side was an almost identical structure. More structures floating around the outside, this structure was obviously more dense, a different kind of material, but with that exact same interwoven pattern of light energy.

“What's that?” Martha asked.

The Doctor looked at Jess, past Martha, with awe in his eyes. “It's the TARDIS.”

“What?” Martha looked between Jess and the screen, comparing the two images. “But that...how is that possible?”

“It's not.” The Doctor replied simply. He glanced at Martha, then at the screen. “At an atomic level, aside from the atomic mass. Obviously, human cells and TARDIS material wouldn't have the same density. They're not the same material, but at an Atomic level...” He got back on track as he saw the expression on Martha's face and his own expression wavered, smile fading into something more serious. “Jess and the TARDIS are atomically....identical.”

“What does that mean?” Martha asked, walking back to Jess's side. She looked at the girl, as if she were sleeping peacefully, looking exactly the same as she had the last time that they had met, twenty years ago. Though for Jess, it had only been months.

The Doctor joined Martha by her side, reaching up and sliding the familiar brown coat off Jess's shoulders. He held it in his hands, looking at it. “I don't know what it means.” He told her. “But I think she'll be okay. Whatever happened to her in that universe, she was made this way long before she ever came to this universe...and that Doctor...he would never let anything bad happen to Rose, or her daughter.”

Martha couldn't take her eyes off the Doctor. His face was just so different, she hadn't had time to focus on it before. His hair was an unkempt, shaggy mess, and he had quite a bit more chin than the Doctor she remembered, but that expression. She knew that look as well as any other expression on his face. She could almost see the old him shining through the new face. Well, new to her.

“Doctor!” It was Rory's voice, panicked, from the other room, that called their attention.

Martha and the Doctor shared a look before both running out of the room. The coat left laying on the bed beneath Jess's hovering body. The Doctor skidded to a halt in the room, Martha slammed into his back and steadied herself, grabbing him before he fell over as well.

Rory knelt in front of a chair, doing his best to check over Amy. She held her hands tight over her head, shaking in pain. Rory looked up at them.

“Doctor? What's wrong, what's happening?” He asked, voice panicked. He flailed, not knowing what to do. Amy seemed to wail in pain louder when Rory touched her, but he felt like if he didn't look her over then something back might happen and he was torn, unsure what to do.

The Doctor frowned, a darkness returning to his eyes that hadn't been seen there for a very long time. His entire body tensed and he stopped moving forwards, instead leaning back as if to get far away from her as possible. His eyes stared holes into Amy.

This was a particularly strange situation for him. In one room laid the unconscious woman, the daughter of Rose Tyler, the impossible girl, his anomaly. In the other, Amelia Pond. The first face this face saw. His best friend. The woman whose mind was on a slow burn. He wasn't sure which one could be saved, if either.

“What's wrong with her?” Martha asked, dropping to her knees and trying to inspect her.

“Step away from her.” The Doctor ordered. “Both of you. It's not safe.”

Rory and Martha both gave him a confused, scared expression, but they did as they were told. Both knew the consequences of disobeying the Doctor. Once both of them stood behind him, he approached her.

He whipped his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket and aimed it at her, scanning her as he spoke. “She looked into the Time Vortex. It's burning the wiring in her brain, breaking the connection.”

“Doctor?” Amy sniffled, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. “It hurts, Doctor. What's going on...it's so bright...why is it so bright?”

“I need you to keep calm right now, Amelia.” He knelt before her, taking her hands in his own and whispered to her.

“Oh no..” Fear fell onto her face. “You only call me Amelia when something is wrong. Doctor, what's wrong?”

“Shush now, Amelia.” He whispered, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck and pulling her to him, pressing their foreheads together. “I need you to focus. I need you to remember.”

“Remember what? Doctor, I'm scared.”

“Of course you're scared. You're waking up.” He snapped. “Now tell me, what you see.”

Carefully, Amy obeyed him. With a few deep breaths, her body trembling with pain. “I...I can't Doctor, it hurts too much...”

“That's the machine, it's trying to block it all out. Push past it, Amelia. You have to do this. If we're going to find you, then you've got to do this.”

“Find her?” Rory spoke up, stepping forward. “Doctor, what are you going on about? What's happening? Can't you just...just take it out of her like you did the other one...the one Martha talked about?”

“Shut up, Rory.” The Doctor snapped. “Amelia, I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but you've got to try.”

She nodded, and her fingers wrapped tightly around the Doctor. “It's bright. White. The walls are white. It feels...it feels like I'm moving. I think I'm in a ship, some kind of ship....Doctor, why am I not on the TARDIS?”

“Do you see anything else?” The Doctor ignored her, wiping the tears that poured from her tightly clenched eyes.

She shook her head. “No...there's nothing...just the room. I don't even see a door. Doctor, I'm scared...”

“I know...” He pulled away and pressed his lips to her forehead. “But you need to be brave, Amelia Pond. Because I'm going to come find you. I promise. I will find you.”

Amy nodded, her fingers clinging tightly to the Doctor, even as he stood up and pried himself from her grasp. She sat in the chair, desperate and trembling and afraid. The Doctor aimed his Sonic Screwdriver between her eyes. The tip extended and the light eminated green from it.

Amelia's eyes opened, and her last image was of the Doctor, standing over her with a dangerous expression. Then she melted, falling into a puddle of bubbling white flesh in the chair, on the floor. The last thing she heard, the sound of Rory's screams.

 


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the internet back up, I'll be able to get more done. yay. plus after tomorrow, I've got 4 days off in a row to do nothing but write. I'm not too fond of this chapter. I think it could be better, but I'm tired of fooling with it, so I'm posting it as is OvO

  “What are you going to do?” Jack asked.

The group stood outside of the TARDIS doors. Jack, Mickey, Martha, Rory, and the Doctor. He leaned against the side of the TARDIS, thumbed tucked in the waistband of his trousers.

“Rory and I are going to find Amy.” He told them.

“But what happened to her?” Martha asked. “She just...she melted..”

“What you saw was a flesh avatar.” The Doctor explained, looking to Rory. “We encountered them a while back. I guess I know now how Jess could tell which one of me was the real one.”

“But wait...how long?” Rory asked. “Doctor, how long as Amy been....been one of those?”

The Doctor shrugged. “I think only Jess would be able to answer that question. I had the suspicion for a while now...since the thing with the pineapple people...but I didn't know for certain until she looked into the Time Vortex.”

“What? Why?” Rory asked.

The Doctor turned his eyes upon Rory. “Because she should have burned up within moments of what she saw, but she didn't. It was just the flesh avatar, and instead of her mind burning, it was the brain of the Flesh and the connection keeping her tied into it. At the end, just before the Flesh gave way, she was able to get glimpses of where she really is.”

“Wait. So you knew?” Rory reared around at the Doctor angrily. “You knew what was going on. You knew she was in pain, and you waited...waited for hours to stop it?”

“I had to.” The Doctor told him, pushing away from the TARDIS. “The bond had to deteriorate enough so that she could realize her surroundings. I needed that information, Rory-”

The Doctor's explination was cut off by a punch to the face. He stumbled back, Jack catching him to keep him from falling. Mickey jumped up and grabbed Rory to keep him from punching the Doctor again.

“That's my wife!” He yelled, angrily. “You just...you just let her suffer!”

“Rory...” The Doctor pulled himself up out of Jack's arms and wiped at his bleeding lip. “I'm sorry, but I needed to find out if she knew anything that could help find her.”

“Who took her?” Rory asked.

The Doctor said nothing. A long silence fell through them all, then the Doctor looked at Rory. “We will get her back.”

“Of course we will.” Rory snapped, sending a glare at the Doctor. “I'll be in the TARDIS. As soon as we leave, we're going to go find Amy.”

The Doctor nodded, stepping aside to let Rory step into the TARDIS. The door shut behind him with a loud thud.

Silence laid around the group. The Doctor stared at the TARDIS door, flexing his fingers as his mind raced. Jack stared at the Doctor. Mickey and Martha looked anywhere but at him.

“So, what now?” Martha finally asked.

The Doctor looked up at her. “UNIT is going to clean up this mess.” He waved his arm around at the devastation. Bodies laid in a row, each covered with a black sheet. One of them was the body of Ianto, and Jack did his best not to look towards them.

“What about you?” Martha pressed.

“I'm going to go find Amy.” He snapped, eyes glancing darkly at Martha before returning to his hands. He examined his fingers, pulled his Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket, and examined it as well. “I just...have to figure out where to start...”

“What about Jess?” Mickey asked, wrapping an arm around Martha.

The Doctor tensed, set his jaw. “What about her?”

He could feel Martha rolling her eyes without even seeing her. He's started pointing his Sonic at the sky, setting it off and spinning around while he tried to locate something.

“Surely you can't be serious.” Jack asked, giving the Doctor a blank look. “After everything that just happened, Rose's daughter....you're just going to...to leave her?”

The Doctor's Sonic stopped. He turned on his heel and looked at Jack, then past him to the black Torchwood vehicle. Jess sat in the back end of the vehicle, asleep, head resting against the window, her coat draped over her shoulders carefully.

“She'll be safer with you for now.” The Doctor responded. “I've got to find Amy, and I can't wait for her to wake up, and it's too much of a risk to take her into the Time Vortex right now. I can't be sure what effects it would have on her while she's in this state.”

Jack's lips thinned into a small line. The Doctor could sense the anger, the unspoken words. He ignored it, clapped his hands together and spun around to Martha. “You've got my number. Call me when she wakes up.”

“Are you going to come back and get her?” Martha asked, eyebrow raised.

“No.” The Doctor spoke softly this time, shaking his head. “But there are still some answers that I need to get from her. She....she might know where Amy is.”

Martha frowned, staring the Doctor down. He looked at her, giving her the wounded puppy stare, but she could see the fire in his eyes and knew that she could not change his mind.

“Fine.” She sighed. “Fine. We'll take care of her, but you'll be lucky if she tells you anything after you just....dump her off like this. Is this who you are now, Doctor? Abandoning the people who love you when they need you the most? Or have you just always been that way?”

“Martha...” Jack reached out for her, trying to calm her, but she pulled herself out of his grasp.

“No, Jack!” Martha glared at him, and the Doctor. “This is ridiculous, and you know it! I remember a Doctor who cared about the people in his life. I remember a Doctor who hated to leave anyone behind. I remember a good Doctor, but who have you become? What happened to you to make you so....hateful?”

The Doctor looked at Martha, a sadness in his eyes that she seemed to ignore. What had happened? Why was he being this way? His hearts clenched in his chest as he thought about, well, everything.

He cleared his throat and straightened his bow tie. “She stays here.”

He met Martha's eyes, his own as fierce as hers to show that he meant what he was saying. Then, he turned on his heels and entered the TARDIS.

Martha cursed, kicking at the blue Police box as it hummed and disappeared into thin air. “How could he be so cruel?”

Mickey sighed, putting his arms around her. “He's not the same person he was when we new him...He's changed.”

“Not that much.” Martha snapped. “When he was looking her over in the TARDIS, it was obvious how much he cares about her. It just doesn't make sense. Why would he leave her behind?”

“Maybe it's best?” Jack offered. “Like he said, he doesn't know what effects time travel would have on her in this state.”

The group started to walk back towards their vehicle. Martha lead the way, storming off with the two men following her. She refused to speak to either of them again, angry at the Doctor and not only just because he abandoned Jess.

Behind her, Mickey walked with Jack. He glanced at the man, who now looked younger than him though Jack was several hundred years old at this point.

“Jack?” Mickey asked. “How are you holding up?”

Jack glanced at him. “I'll be fine.”

“Of course you will, but how are you now?”

Jack laughed at this, a sad sound, and he patted Mickey on the shoulder. “Ianto was a good man, and I....I loved him. It hurts, yeah, but it's not the first time that I've outlived someone I love. I'll be alright.”

Mickey nodded, watching as Martha got into the car beside Jess, checking over her carefully to make sure she was still alright.

“Do you really think he's going to abandon her?” Mickey asked.

Jack looked at the sleeping face of his daughter through the window. “Not a chance.” He stated, looking up at Mickey over the roof of the vehicle. “He's coming back for her. I know it.”


	32. Chapter Thirty Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's get things going again! The journey to find Amy has begun, and Jess still hasn't woken up yet? Wait...monks with guns? This sounds interesting...

December 28, 2034. A blonde woman laid on a stone bed in a prison cell far below the Cardiff streets. She had a soft pillow beneath her head, and a warm blanket covering her body. The only sign she lived being the soft rise and fall of her chest in perfectly even, measured increments. Her body had been placed carefully on the bed, feet together and arms resting on her stomach beneath the blanket.

Four beeps sounded from the electronic lock on the glass door. The lock gave a hiss and the glass door opened. Another woman walked in, a black medical bag slung over her shoulder. Martha sighed as she looked down at the girl.

She sat at the edge of the bed, dropping the bag into her lap. From it, she removed a medical scanner, an old fashioned blood pressure gauge, and a third instrument that looked a lot like a hair dryer.

The sleeping girl made no sounds, no movement to wake up.

Martha placed the cuff of the blood pressure gauge on the girl's arm and set it going. She turned on the scanner and ran the red laser from the top of the blonde's head, all the way to the bottom of her toes. The blood pressure machine beeped and Martha wrote down the response.

She watched the scan, and nodded solemnly at the results of it before standing up. She replaced the two items and picked up the third. The blue device looked like a hair drier, except the settings were not High/Low or Cool/Hot but a single slider between Reactive/Fresnel and a twist dial listing Ionic, Ultraviolet, Xray, Gamma, and a variety of other types of radiation. It had no cord to plug in.

She set the machine to the proper settings and aimed it at the girl's body. Pushing the on switch, the machine let out a loud humming, much like a normal blow drier would make. A warm current flowed through it and into the girl's body. Martha didn't do this for long before turning the machine off and once again using the medical scanner.

She marked down the changes in the girl's body before packing her things up and leaving the cell. She typed in a number and the door swung back into place, locking with a hiss.

Martha walked back up the steps of the building, her mind on the medical readings she'd just taken. She didn't notice the faint glowing emanating from the girl's skin.

  
  


  
  


  
  


Five thousand years in the future, and seven solar systems slightly to the left, a blue box appeared on a primitive little planet called Gloin.

Gloin was a small planet, covered in mostly water with lush, vast green fields and beautiful forests and white beaches with tall cliffs. It was on one of these cliffs that the TARDIS had parked itself so that when the door opened, the two men that walked out came face to face with the great expanse of red sea.

Behind them, stood a great metal monastery, a great walled building with towers of steam billowing from the tops. The people of Gloin were all Monks, a race of semi steam-driven robotic people from the larger nearby planet of Corionis. They had fled the larger planet during a great electrical uprising, when they refused to have their mechanical parts upgraded from steam to electrical. Most of them did so for religious reasons, as the Monks in the monastery had done, but some of them had been families that were just too poor to afford the upkeep of electrical parts. Instead, they packed up everything they had and left the planet, coming to Gloin to make peace with the world and start anew.

Or so, the Doctor explained in rabid, excited succession to his counterpart as he locked the TARDIS door and walked around to look down at the monastery behind them. Even further behind it stood a small village.

“So what's the point of this?” Rory asked the Doctor, rolling his sleeve down over a metal extension he'd placed over his arm, a metal glove with a small steam engine that gave a puff of steam each time he flexed his arm.

The Doctor turned to look at him, one eye twinkling with curiosity while the other hid behind a metal mask. It covered his eye with a silver plate and tendrils that wrapped around his forehead and into his hair and around his ear, disappearing into the great mop of his head.

“The Gloinians prefer steam-driven parts over electronic parts, but do you know what the key point is there, Rory?” He asked, walking backwards through the grass as he headed for the village.

“Parts?” Rory asked, stumbling to keep up with the long legged Doctor.

“Exactly!” He clapped his hands together, smile drawing up the corners of his lips. “See, Gloinians prefer steam parts to electric parts, but they'll still prefer electric parts to none at all. They're very strict on this, as all Gloinians have at least one body part replaced with a mechanical part at some point during their lives. Otherwise, they look entirely human. However, they don't take very kindly to adults who don't have parts, hense...” He tapped his Sonic Screwdriver against the plate on his face.

“The parts.” Rory finished his sentence. “But what are we doing here? Is Amy here?”

“No.” The doctor's voice dimmed. “Amy's not here. But the Gloinians have a device that I'm keen on seeing. It might provide some information as to how we can find her.”

Rory nodded, not bothering to listen to the rest of the Doctor's information. It might help them find Amy was good enough for him. Looking out at the land, though, Rory was quite impressed. It looked like Scotland back home, except the vaguely steam-punk church in the distance and the lack of sheep.

He found himself asking the Doctor questions as they walked towards the village. “What do they do here? If they were too poor to upgrade...” He paused and gave out a shiver, reminded of the Cybermen when he said that word, but he continued. “And instead moved to an entirely new planet, what do they do here? How did they survive?”

“Most of the refugees were monks.” The Doctor explained. “They converted their ship into the church you see over there. The ground is very fertile, they grow lots of crops. They're a vegetarian race, so they don't eat any of the wildlife, which is good. Have you ever tried a Woodtor? You'd think they're good, since they look like cows but by gods...” He made a disgusted face, not finishing his sentence and leaving Rory to laugh at his antics.

“So they just farm?” He asked, looking at the settlement. “And pray?”

“Basically.” The Doctor said, making his way to the top of one more hill, and smiling widely. “Wonderful, a road....and people. Oh, hello people!” He called out, waving at the group.

Rory watched as the troupe stopped, looked curiously at the two of them, pointed, and then two of them started walking over.

Two great, large men from what they could see. Both clothed in the drab brown cloth indicative of religious monks. One of them had a shaved head and a leg made of metal, steam billowing from the joint with each step he took. The other was thinner and much shorter, black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. His left arm had been converted into mechanics, as it seemed that beneath the robe more of him was made of metal. Both had guns.

“Um...Doctor...” Rory spoke up, nervous when he noticed the guns. “Are you sure these people are friendly?”

“Not....at....all...” He spoke each word between a breath of air with a smile that never faltered.

Rory groaned, already putting his hands up in the air before the monks reached them. The first greeting he got was a gun in his face and a gruff voice from the larger of the two.

“Who are ye and what der ye wants?” he growled, shoving the gun into Rory's face.

The Doctor flinched from the gun the younger had, his own hands up in the air quickly in a mimic of Rory's actions.

“I'm the Doctor, and this is Rory.” He told them.

“And what are ye doin here?” The larger man shot a glare at the Doctor, his finger on the trigger making a sweat break out on the back of Rory's neck.

“Inspection.” The Doctor said. “Come to check on the SID.”

“You from Corionis then?” The smaller man asked.

The Doctor made a motion with his hand, towards his pocket. The dark haired man looked at his superior, who nodded. He pulled his gun back and the Doctor nodded, reaching into the inside pocket of his coat to remove the psychic paper.

He flipped it open and showed it to the both of them. “From the Corionis Bohdi-Binah, Deacon of Biotech, also called the Doctor, and my assistant Rory Pond.”

The two men looked at the paper for a moment before the larger gave a large groaning sigh and dropped his gun to his side. “Alright then, Deacon of Biotech.” He gave a nasally grunt at the title. “You'll be wanting to see Father Fisher then.”

The Doctor gave Rory a victorious smile before nodded and letting the two armed monks lead them back to the rest of the company. They were helped into a wooden cart, and finished the trip to the monastery with the monks.

 


	33. Chapter Thirty Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So...this happened.

  The church was a great, large building formed out of the rusted hold of a more than two hundred year old space ship, and it showed. Every part of the ship had been repurposed. The hull of the great ship made the three story high main building, with four towers jutting up from each side. Entire rooms had been moved piece by piece into the inside of the maze-like building. A great metal fence surrounded the church, made from spare parts that couldn't be used elsewhere.

Rory looked around him in awe at the sight of the place, wondering just how large the ship must have been to have been rebuilt into this massive structure. The Doctor had stuck up a conversation with the other monks in the caravan, several of who were much nicer than the two with guns had been. Rory was glad to see that not everyone on this planet was hostile. He did, however, realize that all of the people had at least one steam-driven mechanical part built onto their body.

Rory listened to the conversation, not understanding a word of it. The TARDIS translated well enough, the language of the Gloinians, but the strange terms of which the Doctor used to speak of their religion made no sense to him. He almost wished Jess was back with them. She would have understood what the Doctor was talking about and could have explained it to him.

The two men with guns, who they had learned the names of on their trip to the church, ushered them off the cart. The smaller of the two was called Loni Alterstone, while the larger was his brother Duregarrison. Loni had told them to call him Gary, though he'd grumbled at the name.

“Alright, then.” The Doctor grinned, hopping out of the cart with Rory in tow. “Gary, Loni, take us to Father Fisher.”

Gary grumbled, shifting his gun from one hand to the other as if debating on using it.

Loni leaned over to Rory when he saw the man's eyes on the gun. “Don't pay him no mind. He ain't nothin but a big softy. Ain't never fired his gun a day'n is life.”

“Nah.” Gary snapped, looking back at his brother with a brotherly glare. “But I'll smack you upside the head with'n it if yer don't keep yer mouth shut.”

Loni rolled his eyes, looking at Rory. “So, you guys are from Corionis, right?”

“Um...yeah...” Rory stated.

“Blimey.” He grinned. “What's it like, 'as it changed much?”

Rory shrugged. “Don't know, really...It's just...the same, I guess.”

This seemed to cause Loni's excitement to fade a bit. “But you two don't 'ave electrical sacraments. Thought they outlawed that in Corionis.”

At this, Rory looked at the Doctor, unsure what to say. Gary had also looked at the Doctor for an answer to this question.

“Obviously, it has.” he'd told them. “All except for the religious order, mind. Law changed only fifty years ago. Forcing the Bohdi-Binah to upgrade to electrical sacraments was considered religious persecution and violated people's rights. It's still mandatory for everyone outside the order, though.”

Rory couldn't be sure if the Doctor were making things up, as he usually did, or was actually telling the truth in this statement. The two monks seemed to be rather interested in what he had to say, though, as they walked through the halls of the church.

“Well, we're here.” Gary huffed, stopping in front of a great iron door. A circular glass window sat centered in the door, and just below it the name “Fisher” had been etched onto a plate and pinned to it.

Gary knocked, and the door swung open. A hissing voice spoke out, the unmistakable voice of the elderly. “Who is it?”

“Sorry to bother you, Sir.” Gary spoke up, stepping into the doorway and giving a small bow. He put his mechanical leg forward, exposing it to Father Fisher. The Doctor took a short moment to whisper to Rory that it was respectful to expose your sacrament, or mechanical part, to anyone in the order of higher status than yourself upon addressing them. “A Deacon from Corionis has come to inspect SID. Saw 'em outside the monastery, thought you'd be need'n to see 'em first, Sir.”

“Yes.” The old man hissed. “Bring him in.”

Gary nodded, and turned to the Doctor. He gave a polite nod, however peeved it seemed, and let the Doctor and Rory into the room.

It was the captains quarters of the ship, transposed exactly into the building. A living area, a great metal desk, and behind it an old man in a tattered brown robe. His jaw had been replaced with copper metal, the fingers peeking through one of his torn black gloves shone with a tarnished silver.

“Deacon?” Rory realized for the first time that the hiss in the man's voice came from the miniature steam engine in the man's jaw. “I was unaware that the Bohdi-Binah was sending a Deacon.”

“Yes, Well.” The Doctor spoke, giving a bow to the man to better show him the facial plate he had attached to his face earlier. Rory stumbled forward, pulling up his sleeve a bit at the Doctor's behest, and showing off the metal glove. He only hoped it looked enough like an actual limb to pass.

“I'm Deacon of Biotech.” The Doctor responded. “Called The Doctor. This is my assistant, Dane Rory. He's knew to the faith.”

Fisher nodded at Rory, a hiss whistling from him as he pulled himself to his feet. He pulled back the shoulder of his robe to reveal a metal plated shoulder, steam puffing from it with each movement. He quickly covered it back up after the cursory show of respect to the Doctor.

“Do you have your papers?” He asked, walking around his desk. “The Archdioceses wouldn't have sent you without sending papers.”

“Ah, yes.” The Doctor responded, once more pulling his psychic paper from his pocket. “My papers. Right here. Everything you need to know.”

The Father took the paper and looked at it, studied it curiously before slapping it back down in the Doctor's hand. “I must say.” His voice hissed out in puffs of steam. “This is rather unprecedented. In two hundred years, the main division has never sent a Deacon for inspection. I'd thought they'd forgotten we were even still here.”

“Nope.” The Doctor responded. “They haven't forgotten, and they figured it's time that they sent somebody to come check things out down here, see how well you're doing.”

Fisher nodded. “Alright then. Not wasting any more time, I'm sure you'll be wanting a tour, then right to the SID.”

The Doctor nodded, and Fisher picked up a long metal pipe, the end twisted into a handle. He used this to support himself as he walked out of the office, Doctor and Rory in tow.

“Doctor.” Rory whispered. “What's SID?”

“It's what we're here to take a look at.” He answered, but said nothing more.

Rory walked behind the Doctor, playing the part of an assistant, pretending to know what was going on while at the same time keeping quiet and allowing the Doctor to talk. The Doctor didn't stop talking, except when Father Fisher answered one of his questions. He continued on about the place, making assumptions that he found out moments later were true.

They saw the mess hall, they saw the crops in the fields out behind the church, they saw the chapel where monks worshiped. Many of the men they met were surprised to see them, but nice. They saw the bedrooms, which shocked Rory more than anything else. He hadn't been sure what he'd been expecting, but great oak framed feather beds with silk sheets for a group of half mechanical monks had not been it.

It wasn't until they reached a locked door that Rory started paying more attention. Father Fished pulled an old iron key from his pocket and twisted it inside the hold with a screech.

“We don't normally let the lower members of the Cast come in here.” he hesitated, looking at Rory.

“He's my assistant. I need him with me.” The Doctor pointed out. “I'm sure you can make an exception just this once?”

Fisher looked at Rory thoughtfully for a moment, and then gave a careful nod, pushing the door open. “We keep this place as secure as possible. Only the oracles can come down here, and me. Make sure that anything you see or hear in this room, you keep between yourselves.”

The Doctor and Rory both nodded and followed Fisher down the stairs. The walls turned from metal into stone, pressed in the sides of dirt walls as they climbed further and further underground in the narrow spiral staircase.

At the bottom, the room opened up into a vast cavern. Stone pillars held the ground up above them and lined the walls. A row of beds lined one wall, much less decadent than the monk's beds upstairs. These were basically hay-filled sacks on the ground with a tattered burlap sheets for blankets.

In the very center of the room was a great device, a large computer looking device run off steam engines that filtered the steam up through pipes in the ground.

“Well, that's where all that steam pouring out of the roof came from.” The Doctor muttered, mostly to himself.

Rory looked at the machine, and to the harnesses built into it. Four harnesses, one facing each direction, had people strapped in to them. Young women, by the look of them. No older than nineteen.

“What are these people strapped in for?” Rory asked the Doctor.

“They're the Oracles.” He explained. “They run the machine with the power of their minds. It reaches out throughout the galaxy, allowing them to hack into and control avatars on every planet in the system. It's how they communicate with other worlds.”

“Is it dangerous?” He asked, looking up at the form of a rather pretty girl. She looked like she was sleeping, in the machine, long blonde hair laying down her shoulders. She wore a brown dress that came down to her knees, exposing her sacrament – her copper left knee. The skin around the ligament was a harsh, angry red.

“Looks new.” The Doctor muttered to himself. “But no, it's no more dangerous than the machines Creaves and her crew used to control the Flesh. In fact, it's the exact same kind of machine, only that this one has a much wider range.”

“That's why we're here.” Rory realized, looking to the machine. “You think...”

“Someone's stolen this technology to create the machine Amy had been placed in. Modified it to reach through all of time and space. If I can figure out who stole the technology, then maybe I can find a lead on Amy.” He spoke carefully, quietly so as not to be over heard.

“You'll have to wait until the Oracles are logged out of the machine before you can inspect it, I'm afraid.” Father Fisher told them. “I'm afraid it might be dangerous to them if you were to start touching settings while they're still hooked in.”

“Very good.” The Doctor responded. “It's good to see that you care about their well-being, but tell me something about them...how old are these girls?”

“Oracles are chosen at the age of ten.” Father Fisher told him. “Marina, here, is our eldest Oracle. She's nineteen. Her sister Meridia was also chosen as an Oracle. She is only sixteen, and has yet to choose a sacrament.”

He had pointed to the blonde, and then again to the younger blonde in the harness opposite her sister. Rory could tell they were related. The younger girl did not have a metal body part, her entire being remained whole and untarnished by metal and steam.

Rory flinched at the realization that this meant she would soon have part of her body hacked off and replaced with metal. It was not a custom that he thought a good one, but he had been to places with the Doctor that had much scarier customs than this.

“How long until they log out?” The Doctor asked.

Father Fisher looked at the machine. “Sundown, they usually remove themselves from the machines.”

Even as he said this, a great hissing issued from the machine. Four shrill screams reverberated through the cavern, coming from the girls. They trashed as pain filled their bodies and suddenly the machine threw them out, dropping them to the ground while it wailed out its warning signal.

“Doctor!” Rory ran to the nearest girl, attempting to check her over. “What's going on?!”

  
  


  
  


Five thousand years in the past, in a prison cell in underground Cardiff, a great golden light filled the vast underground chamber. A loud sound, the wheezing and groaning sound of the universe, filled the expanse of the air, drowning out the sounds of people banging on metal doors, screaming to be let it.

Almost as soon as the light appeared, it vanished, and with it, the sleeping blonde laying on the stone bed. The door unlocked and three people burst into the cell, looking around at the empty space in confusion.

  
  


 

Somewhere else, in an unknown time and place, in a white room with no windows or doors, a blonde appeared in a whir of golden light on the floor of the room, in a corner. Her shut eyes opened almost instantly and she pulled herself up from the ground. She looked around, and found herself smiling.

“Amy.” She ran to the harness, unstrapping the red head from the machine and letting her drop to the ground. “Are you alright?”

“Jess.” Amy pulled the blonde into a tight hug. “What happened? What's going on? How did you get here?”

“Where exactly is here?” Jess asked, pulling away from Amy and looking around the white room.  


	34. Chapter Thirty Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two adventures. Amy and Jess reunited? Will they be able to escape and call for the Doctor? Rory and the Doctor, will they be able to save the town from the tyranical religious order and find a clue to their next stop in finding Amy? Basically, things are getting interesting.

Rory helped the four girls into the far corner of the room, away from the machines. He'd first suggested that they go upstairs, but the girls had adamantly refused until the Doctor had explained that it was against their religion for an Oracle to see the sunlight with her own eyes after being inducted. The only time they would be allowed to leave the chamber was to have their sacraments put on.

The Doctor was otherwise preoccupied, dashing around the machine. He scanned it with his Sonic Screwdriver, pressed some buttons and flipped some switches, did another scan, and kept running around it in circles, trying to find out what was wrong.

“Some kind of signal blocked the machine!” He yelled out loudly to be heard over the sounds of hissing steam and computer warning sounds. “It sent off the emergency fail safe on the machine. Kicked off the Oracles and shut down the programming code, but there's something wrong in the coding and it's going to overload.”

“Can't you stop it?” Rory yelled back, turning from the girl next to him.

“I'm trying!” The Doctor took the time to turn around and look at Rory when he yelled, but as a bolt popped off the machine, he spun back around and once more started trying to fix it.

  
  


  
  


  
  


“How long have you been in here?” Jess asked, walking around the edge of the room with her fingers pressed against the wall. She was searching for any sign of a door.

“I'm not really sure.” Amy sat on the floor, legs crossed, finally just glad to be out of the machine. “All this time, I thought I was on the ship. What happened?”

“On Alpha Centuri, when you were taken away.” Jess responded. “I can only assume it was then, because I only noticed then that your body was not human.”

“Just like you knew who the real Doctor was...” Amy pointed out.

Jess looked at her and gave a solemn nod. “I'm sorry.”

Amy shrugged. “After the Daleks in Cardiff, when the Doctor....shut me off...” She sounded awkward saying this. “How long ago was that?”

Jess turned around and looked at her, taking her fingers off the wall and walking over to sit down next to Amy. “For us, about four days ago. How long has it been for you?”

“Ten months.” Amy looked down at her fingers as she answered. “Yeah...It's been ten months since I woke up here.”

“I'm so sorry, Amy.” Jess frowned. “But don't worry. The Doctor and Rory are looking for you, and if I can get us out of here, then maybe we can get a message out to him.”

“Wait.” Amy looked carefully at Jess. “The Doctor didn't send you? He's not here with you?”

Jess shook her head, looking away from Amy.

“He...please don't tell me...he left you behind?” Jess flinched at the anger and indignation in Amy's voice. “Oh, am I gonna kill that man when I see him. He better hope he never finds me.”

Jess laughed. “Don't over react.”

She stood up, pulling Amy up. “First thing we're doing when we get out of here is finding you some trousers.” Jess said, looking at the white medical gown Amy had been put in while in captivity.

“How are we going to get out?” Amy asked.

“If I can just find the door, I can Sonic it open.” Jess responded, going back to the wall and looked around it.

“The door's not on the wall, I don't think.” Amy said. “I'm usually not...awake, when they come in, but I think they come through the floor.”

This brought on another bit of inspiration for Jess, and she started scanning the floor.

“Here it is!” She grinned, tapping a few buttons on her watch to unlatch the door.

A thin line appeared in the floor, and then a hiss as air pressure released. Jess gripped her fingers into the edges and pulled up the door like a loose tile. She pulled it to the side and glanced down beneath them. A set of stairs let down into a dark hallway, two guards posted in chairs beneath them, sleeping.

  
  


The Doctor held a brunette's hand as they raced down a hallway. Rory held the younger blonde, Meridia in his arms, and the other two ran behind them. The walls of the cavern came down behind them, leaving the cavern and the machine buried beneath ruins.

They didn't stop running, not until they had made it all the way back into the office of the late Father Fisher. The Doctor sealed the door shut behind them. Rory sat the girl down on the bed, tending to her wound.

“I can't believe he could do such a thing.” Marina sniffled, watching the Doctor.

“Many horrid things have been done in the name of religion.” The Doctor responded.

“He tried to shoot my sister!” Marina whimpered, walking to the bed to sit next to her sister and hold the girl's hand. “I'm glad he's dead.”

“Dead is never something to be glad about.” The Doctor responded. “Even if it is deserved....”

“Well, what are we going to do now, Doctor?” Rory asked.

It had all happened in a flash. The Doctor had not been able to save the machine, so he downloaded it's records into his Sonic Screwdriver's memory banks. Or he'd tried, until he'd found out that they had been erased. Someone had gone into the system and made sure that they would not be able to get the information about where the girls had gone in their avatars. Had even made sure that the backup data had been destroyed, leaving no trace.

It had only been then that the Father had turned on the girls, pulling out a gun and demanding to know which of them was the saboteur. He'd fired off a shot at Meridia, hitting her in the arm. If Rory hadn't reacted quickly and pulled her into him, the bullet would have landed in her heart. Instead, the bullet skimmed her arm and slammed into the machine.

The entire thing had exploded, sending them all flying against the walls and giving them only moments to get up and run for it. Unfortunately, the Father had not made it out.

“It's my fault.” Meridia spoke up, her voice soft. She looked up at The Doctor through thick lashed. “He was right. It was I who removed the information.”

“But why?” The Doctor asked.

Meridia frowned and looked down at the wound in her arm, Rory cleaning it as best he could with the small first aid kit he kept in his pocket. Rory glanced up at her, and then to the Doctor.

“You haven't realized?” He asked. “You mean....I've noticed something before you did?”

“Oh shut up.” the Doctor pouted, obviously put off, but when no one spoke, he urged Rory to explain. “Well, come on then. Tell me what you know.”

Rory looked at Meridia, as if asking her permission, and she nodded. He turned to the Doctor and spoke. “Well, she's not sixteen, is she? I mean, she looks younger cause she's smaller, but I'd say she's older than her sister, isn't that right?”

The other three girls looked away, as if ashamed of this revelation. Her sister's grip on her hand tightened. Both men looked at the shaking blonde.

“Well, how old are you then?” The Doctor asked gently, genuinely curious.

“Twenty three.” She whispered, fear in her voice and wide blue eyes as she looked up at the Doctor.

“Blimey....” He rubbed his chin as he thought about the situation. “How'd you keep from getting your sacrament for so long? How'd they not find out?”

Meridia looked at her sister, then back at the Doctor. “When they came, looking for a new Oracle, they thought my sister was the elder, because I look so much smaller than her. We just....didn't bother to correct them. I never wanted this. None of us do. The Monks, they force the townspeople to worship, force us to chop ourselves up...it's scary, and I don't want to.”

“But they were going to figure it out soon, weren't they?” The Doctor proposed. “You couldn't hide it for long, or run from it. Two more years, and you'd have been forced to anyway.”

“That's why we've been sending out for help.” Marina spoke up. “When we join the machine, and take up our avatars off this planet, we have been trying to find help, someone, anyone who could help us....save us.”

“I found someone.” Meridia spoke. “I told him what was going on here...told him about the machine...he said he would help us.”

“Who?” The Doctor asked, “Who was he?”

Meridia frowned. “Just...just some man. His name is Harry, that's all. He's part of the Intergalactic Police Agency in this sector. He told me what they're doing to us is illegal, that he could save us.”

“And so....you gave him all the information you had about the machine and wiped the records so that no one would know what you'd done.” The Doctor responded, tapping his Sonic Screwdriver against his chin as he paced around the room. “Well, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“Um...” Rory paused, then looked at the Doctor. “The Bad?”

The Doctor spun around, walking to the Father's desk to sit behind it. He started typing on the man's computer at a rapid speed. “The machine has been destroyed, and I won't be able to traced the information or the signal back to the location of this “Harry” person, thought I'm sure he's the one we're looking for. It just makes sense, really.”

“And...what's the good news?” Rory asked as the Doctor smashed a key on the computer and a great red flashing alarm began to blare. The Doctor looked up at him with his expression that Rory knew only meant that they were about to run.

“The implosion caused by the machine caved out the better part of the ground beneath this church, and we've got about six minutes to get as many people as we can out before the place collapses!”

Rory groaned, pulling the girls up. “Come on, we've got to run!”

The Doctor gave a great laugh, using his Sonic to open the door so that they could join the rush of people in their attempt to get out of the church building.

 


	35. Chapter Thirty Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be neat. But the next one, oh my...my, my, my... That's when it gets interesting.

Two guards laid in an empty white room, dressing in only their underwear and white tank tops. Their hands wrapped around the base of a machines, metal cuffs holding them hostage. Outside of the prison, two girls walked the halls in ill fitting guard's uniforms.

Amy shuffled behind Jess as the two of them walked through the corridors, looking around. They almost looked like they belonged, if the uniforms they'd taken off the guards had fit just a little bit more.

“Do you have any idea where we are?” Amy asked, looking at the blonde.

Jess frowned, “I think we're heading towards the control room.”

“I mean like...where in the universe?” Amy asked.

Jess once again shrugged. “I'm not even sure what time we're in.”

“How did you even get here?” Amy asked.

Jess paused, chewing her lip. “It's complicated.” She told Amy. “I'll explain it all later when we're not in danger.”

Amy nodded and stopped, peeking around a corner to see if the coast was clear. Finding out the corridor was empty, the two of them slipped in to it and started walking along.

“Alright, what are we looking for?” Amy asked. “We can't just...I don't know, leave the same way you came?”

“I don't think that's an option.” Jess responded, and added at Amy's confused expression. “I don't know how I got here.”

“What?!” Amy had paused and almost yelled.

Jess wrapped a hand over her mouth and looked around to see if she'd alerted anyone. Amy glared, prying Jess's fingers off her mouth.

“We need to find a communication room of some kind.” Jess whispered, letting go of Amy. “If we can find some kind of a clue of where we are...or when we are....then maybe we can get a message back to the TARDIS.”

“Do you think it'll work?” Amy asked, glancing at doors as they walked past.

Jess shushed her quickly, peeking around a corner to find two guards headed their way. She grabbed Amy and pulled her into a corner, hiding in the shadows. The two guards walked past, chuckling to each other, and didn't notice the two girls hiding.

Jess held her breath until they had passed and waited for them to turn the corner before they dashed out and around the way those men had come. “We've got to hurry...”

Amy nodded, following Jess through the corridors until she spotted something. Grabbing Jess's hand, she pointed towards a room, door open. Inside, she could see a group of computer screens and a large computer.

“I bet we could get some information off that.” Amy suggested.

Jess grinned and they made their way to the room, finding it surprisingly empty. Jess frowned, not liking the signs of that.

Amy shut the door behind them, wedging it shut. Jess set her Sonic Watch on it to lock it. Then the two of them turned to look at the room they were in. It seemed like some sort of a security room. Monitors lined one wall and a computer sat against another. The room even had a small glass window looking outside.

“We're definitely on a ship.” Jess stated, looking out the window. “I don't recognize these constellations, though. I'm not quite sure what part of the universe we're in.”

“What about the computers?” Amy asked, her eyes looking over the cameras. “Do you think you can get it out of the computer?”

Jess nodded, already sitting down in front of the machine. She bypassed the controls and pointed her Sonic at it, extracting the information she needed. She hummed.

“Well...” She muttered to herself. “That...should have expected that, really.”

“Expected what?” Amy asked, glancing at Jess before her eyes went back to the monitors.

Each monitor showed a different corridor, and she had found one that showed the stairs to the cell she'd been in, two empty chairs sitting on each side. She frowned, ignoring her previous question to say something knew. “I think they might already know that I've escaped.”

“Of course he does.” Jess responded, getting up. She released her drawstring bag and fished out her phone, suddenly aware that she'd been wearing the same outfit for four days.

“You know who did this, then?” Amy asked.

“Who else?” Jess responded, tapping away on the phone's screen. “If you're insane, and there's some one you want, what's the most obvious way to get it?”

Amy shrugged, watching Jess type on the screen.

“You go through the people they care about the most.” Jess said. “You find their weak spot, and you exploit it.”

“So...this...this was the Master?” Amy asked, looking back at the screens in fear, one of the monitors showed a group of guards gathering outside of the door, guns in hand, ready to bash the door in and get them.

Jess nodded, looking at her phone screen before hitting 'send.' She looked up at Amy. “Whatever you do, just stay silent. Don't say anything. Don't give anything away.”

Amy nodded, following Jess to put her back against the wall, facing the door.

“Hopefully the Doctor will get here soon.” Jess looked down at her phone, message sent.

  
  


On the other side of the universe, the Doctor fell against the cool, dewy grass of the Gloinian hills. Rory fell onto his knees beside him, and four girls dropped down between them. They all turned back, as they caught their breaths, to watch the church burn.

Metal and wood went up in flames of bright blues and purples and greens. Great black billows of smoke mushroomed into the sky, a stark contrast to the calm blue gray of the morning sky.

“That was...” Rory gasped. “Tiring.”

The Doctor had a bright smile on his face. “The church is gone, the people are free. Anyone who wishes to stay here can do so, and any wishing to return to the faith will be getting a lift off planet and back to the Bohdi-Binah on Corionis. Which still leaves the problem of finding this Harry person.”

“And finding Amy.” Rory responded, thought just as he did, he felt an unusual vibrating in his pocket.

He sat up and pulled out the source of the vibration, Amy's phone. In his pocket? He hadn't remembered picking that up. He looked at it curiously as the Doctor pulled himself and the four girls up to their feet. Behind them, a line of monks could be seen walking into the village.

“What?” Rory looked at the number on the screen, a text from a number he didn't recognize. He scrambled to his feet and followed the Doctor. “Where are we going now?”

“To tell the town they're safe!” The Doctor gestured wide with his hands, stepping lightly as they walked down the hill to join with the trail of monks in the distance. Of the nearly three hundred the Oracles had told them inhabited the place, only about eighty had survived the implosion of the church.

Rory sighed, shoving the phone back into his pocket. “And then what?”

“And then...” the Doctor's excitement faded a bit, and he turned to look back at the blue box on the distant hill. “Then we go find Amy.”

The journey to the city was long, tiring on the already tired group, but the Doctor kept their spirits high with talk of a new future for Gloin. Waving his hands about and twirling around and talking about events as if they had already happened, but weren't to happen yet. The time passed much more quickly to find them standing in the town center, surrounded by a mass of monks. Beyond them, a group of terrified, but angry towns people.

They thought the Doctor a god by the time he finished explaining to them what had happened, with the help of the girls happy to be reunited once more with their families. Rory watched the happy reunion, watched as the Doctor refused their offers to make him king. His fingers spun the phone around in his pocket, text forgotten, as they entered a great hall and feasted.

The celebration lasted long into the day, until the sun began to set in the west, illuminating the TARDIS so far in the distance, Rory could almost not tell it was there. He only finally remembered the text message as he and the Doctor once more reached the doors, under the starry cover of the night sky.

The Doctor turned to Maridia, who had walked with them back to the TARDIS. She seemed intrigued by the machine.

“Do you both really travel in that....box?” She asked, walking around the TARDIS.

“It's bigger on the inside.” The Doctor told her, producing a key from his pocket. He put it into the lock and opened the door, motioning for Meridia to come inside.

Rory wouldn't admit that he liked this part almost as much as the Doctor did. The look of confusion and awe on a person's face when they stepped inside the ship. Like so many others, she gasped, ran out of the TARDIS, circled it, and walked back in with a great smile on her face.

“This thing is amazing!” She clapped her hands together.

“Maybe you could come on a trip with us..” The Doctor grinned down at the blonde. “Once we've found our friends. We could come back?”

Meridia gave a soft laugh from her nose. “No.” She told the Doctor. “You won't. You will find your friends, and you will not return here.”

The Doctor's face fell, but Rory knew that it was true. With a few exceptions, the Doctor never returned to the same place more than once.

“I can help you.” Meridia continued. “To find your friends, I think. Or at least, I can help you find Harry. If there's anyone who had the information you need, then it's him. He's the only one who knows everything...”

“Do you think Harry's the one who took Amy?” Rory asked, stepping out of the TARDIS after Meridia. He pulled his hands out of his pockets for the first time since they'd left the village, finding the phone still wrapped in his fingers. He'd forgotten it, though his fingers had wrapped so tightly around it that he had imprints of it in his skin.

“If he wasn't the one.” The Doctor said, “Then he knows who has.”

Meridia nodded. “I'm so sorry...” She whispered, looking down at her feet. “I thought he could help us. I had no idea that he would use the information for bad things...”

The Doctor patted her head, brushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear before giving her a careful smile. “It's not your fault.” He told her. “You were only trying to help your people, and that's the best thing you could have ever done for them.”

Meridia smiled and nodded. “If I wouldn't have done something, you never would have saved us.”

“So...where do we find this Harry?” The Doctor asked.

Meridia frowned. “He's on a ship that left port at Bolg 7 station off planet Faldor in the outter-rim territories about ten months ago, I can give you the general coordinates, but I do not know where the ship is heading.”

The Doctor nodded, but Rory had quickly stopped paying attention. His focus was on the phone, opening it up and looking at the number once more. He didn't know anyone who had Amy's number, at least no one that she wouldn't have saved their number. Except maybe a few people she didn't like.

He flipped the phone open as the Doctor got coordinates from Meridia. He frowned when he opened the text.

“Doctor...” He looked up, only to find that the Doctor was gone.

Meridia pointed through the doors. Rory gave her one more goodbye, almost sad that they would never come back. She was a good girl.

“Doctor.” Rory jumped up the stairs, two at a time, holding onto the phone.

“What is it Rory, I'm busy.” He called out, already dashing around the console as he set the dials.

“It's just...this number sent a text to Amy and I don't understand it.” Rory explained.

The Doctor skidded to a halt and spun on Rory. “Amy's phone? Since when do you have Amy's phone?”

Rory shrugged. “I'm not sure. I don't remember picking it up, but a while ago it vibrated and got this text. It's from an unknown number...”

Rory held up the phone for the Doctor to see, watching as his face darkened and fell. He looked past the phone, at Rory.

“That's Martha's phone number.” He told him, snatching the phone from Rory's hand. “This is the number that Jess has been using since she started traveling with...in the TARDIS.”

“And what's the text?” Rory asked. “What do the numbers mean?”

“They're coordinates.” The Doctor said, opening a panel in the TARDIS console. He pulled out a bundle of wires and his Sonic Screwdriver.

“Are we going?” Rory asked. “I mean, it's Jess...I know how you left things with her and all...”

The Doctor sent a sideways glance at Rory, warning him to shut his mouth. He changed his question. “Where do the coordinates lead?”

The Doctor connected a wire into the phone, doing something Rory didn't understand, but was probably useful. As he worked, he spoke. “These coordinates are for a space/time locality. I'm plugging the TARDIS in so that it'll take us to the exact time and place.”

“Yeah.” Rory huffed. “But where is that?”

The Doctor finished his rewiring and put his hand on the lever. “Time, four months in the future. Place, about five hundred thousand miles away from the coordinates Meridia just gave us...”

“Do you think it's Amy?” Rory asked, surprised at the Doctor's answer.

The Doctor gave no response until he slammed down the lever and the TARDIS dematerialized in a great shaking hiss. His response was drowned out by the sounds of the engine and Rory's shock as he fell back into the jump seat.

 


	36. Chapter Thirty Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter. Rather interesting? But still, so many unanswered questions~

“I set the TARDIS to follow the signal from the phone.” The Doctor rushed around the TARDIS as he spoke, working the controls. “Much more accurate than typing in the coordinates because the TARDIS is tracking the source directly back to where it was sent from. We'll materialize next to the exact spot the user of the phone was standing.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea, Doctor?” Rory asked, arms wrapped around the metal railing of the platform. He'd long given up trying to keep steady or help the Doctor.

The Doctor laughed. “I've no idea, but it's the quickest way to get answers! If Jess is there, we'll come out right next to her. If she's not, then we'll know who is using her phone.”

“Why would anyone have her phone?” Rory asked, steadying himself as the great bobble in the center of the TARDIS stopped moving. They had landed.

The Doctor grabbed his coat from where he'd thrown it and slipped it on. He fixed his bow tie, then ran his fingers through his hair to put it back in place before looking at his reflection in the console screen. Rory rolled his eyes, wanting to ask the Doctor why it mattered what he looked like when they stepped off the TARDIS, but he didn't want to have that conversation. Amy could be waiting on the other side of the door.

He stepped out from behind the Doctor, TARDIS door snapping shut behind him. What he saw surprised him, sent his stomach churning.

“Looks like a security room.” The Doctor muttered, carefully walking around the rubble in the room, around the TARDIS. “There's been a massive fight here.”

The room was in shambles. The door had been ripped from its hinges and lay, a crumbled and burned mass, on the floor. Monitors scattered the room with broken screens. Some barely hanging by exposed wires on the wall.

Rory touched a scorch mark on the wall, a blast pattern. It sent a shiver down his spine. “There was a fight here.”

The Doctor nodded. “Couldn't have been more than....ten hours ago?”

“I thought you said we'd come out right where Jess was?” Rory asked, turning to look at the Doctor.

He shook his head, kneeling down to move a pile of metal rubble, the panels of the wall that had been knocked loose during the battle. From beneath it, he reached down and removed something. “I said I'd linked the TARDIS to the signal. We didn't find the person using the phone.” He held up the device, showing Rory the familiar casing of Jess's phone. “We found the phone.”

“So Jess really was here then?” Rory asked, taking a step forward.

The Doctor stood up and stashed the phone in his pocket. “Whoever had it...”

“Jess had it, Doctor.” Rory snapped. “I don't know what you've got against her right now, but just drop it and stop being so thick. Amy's life is at stake right now, Jess's might be to. Whatever is going on between you two, you care about her. Stop acting like you don't.”

The Doctor stopped and looked at Rory, ancient sadness hidden behind his dark eyes. Rory almost flinched away at the expression on the man's face. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out and he shut it again, rocking on his heels and waiting for the Doctor to speak, or move, or do anything at all.

Silently, the Doctor walked over to one of the monitors. He fished his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at one of the screens. Nothing happened. He checked behind it, grabbed the wires and started messing with them. Rory leaned against the side of the TARDIS, watching with his arms crossed over his chest.

He wanted to rush into the hallway and scream out Amy's name, smashing anyone who got in his way until he found his wife. He knew, however, that it wasn't the best idea.

It took several minutes, but the Doctor got the monitor running. “Rory, come look at this...”

Rory walked over and watched the screen, gasping when he saw Amy. She was with Jess and the two of them were backed into a corner, using a panel from the wall as a shield. They had no sound, but they watched as the firing stopped. They could not see who had been attacking the girls, but Jess looking directly into the camera and winking could not be missed by either.

“Look.” The Doctor said, pointing to the screen. “She left the phone here on purpose. She wanted to make sure that we came to this room.”

“Why?” Rory asked.

The Doctor frowned, tapping his Sonic against his chin as he thought about it. “She knew that I would follow the signal, rather than the coordinates.” He jumped up, a sudden burst of enlightenment coming to him. “Oh, she's brilliant! She's keeping the TARDIS safe. She knew we'd follow the signal, and she didn't want the TARDIS landing with her because it's too dangerous!”

“I'm not sure that's really a good thing.” Rory answered.

The Doctor looked at him, smile not faltering. “Let's see if I can bring up the ship's schematics...”

He turned back to the screen and pointed his Sonic at it again, watching as the screen flickered through hundreds of different screens before stopping on a specific one. A map of the ship, showing little red blips where all the people were.

“This is us.” The Doctor pointed to one of the rooms on an upper level. “It seems this entire wing has been evacuated. Probably because of the damage. Structural integrity is compromised. It's not safe in this part of the ship.”

“Then what are we doing here?” Rory asked, looking around as if he were suddenly afraid the wall would break away and they would be sucked out into the vacuum of space.

The Doctor glanced at Rory and then resumed looking at the map, which he had manipulated into a 3-dimensional structure. “By now, the fail safes have fallen into place and the room is completely safe. Were it to collapse, a pressure barrier would keep everything completely inside the room. No reason to worry.”

“Are you sure about that, Doctor?” Rory asked, stepping a little farther away from the outer wall of the room.

“Absolutely no idea.” He responded, then pointed at a group of red dots in a room. “Here. This is them. We need to get to this room.”

“The control room?” Rory asked, taking a closer look at the map. “It's going to be dangerous.”

“Isn't everything?” The Doctor grinned gleefully, Sonic in hand, before he dashed out of the room.

Rory followed him immediately, trying to keep quiet but also warn the Doctor to be careful at the same time. Not that it mattered much. The Doctor would always go blundering in with no plan and no care for safety. Of course, a bit of fast talking, acting like he's got no clue what's going on, and a few button pushes later, the bad guys would be thwarted and the Doctor and his companions would be laughing about it in the TARDIS on their way to the next adventure.

As the Doctor slipped by some unsuspecting guards with their backs turned, Rory had the feeling that things might not turn out quite like that this time.

Getting to the control room was easy. Much easier than it should have been. There were hardly any guards posted between the security room and the control room, and those that were did not act like they were expecting any company or even on guard.

Getting into the control room had been as simple as walking up and pointing the Sonic Screwdriver at the door. It opened into a large room, the control room, which look quite unusually like the bridge of the Enterprise.

The Doctor didn't understand that reference when Rory brought it up. Also mentioned that he didn't understand why the entire bridge was completely empty. Except for the two girls tied to chairs in the center of the room.

The Doctor rushed forward, to Amy. Rory was by her side in a moment. A white cloth wrapped around her mouth, Rory pulled in down immediately to hear her call his name out, following with a string of questions, asking if they were alright, how they got there, if they knew what was going on.

Jess sat quietly, watching as the two fussed over Amy. Once the Doctor started working on her ties, Rory moved to Jess.

“Glad you're alright.” He whispered to her, pulling the cloth from her mouth. She gasped for a fresh breath of air and he immediately went to untie her. The Doctor had made no glance in her direction.

“We have to get out of here.” Jess told him. “As soon as we can.”

Rory glanced up at her. “How did you even get here?”

Jess pulled herself up out of the seat as soon as the ties came off. Amy was already standing and turned to hug the life out of Rory. Jess scratched her elbow as she looked up at the Doctor. He studied a nearby screen, making no attempt to acknowledge her.

“She's here.” Amy finally said, once she got a hold of herself, turning to the Doctor.

“Who?” he asked.

“Hello, Sweetie.” A dangerously smooth voice came from the doorway behind them. The Doctor's eyes lit up in recognition as he spun around to face the woman.

“River Song.” He said her name, looking up and down her body. She wore a fitted black dress and a pair of bright red heels, hair in curls that never seemed to end. In her hand, she held a small pistol.

“Who is she?” Jess asked, a frown on her face. She'd met the woman before. Amy had seemed to know her, not that she liked her at all, but before Jess could find out who she was or why she was here, they had been bound and gagged.

“She's a rogue Time Agent.” Amy explained, when the Doctor made no attempt to do anything but give the woman a bemused grin. It was as if Jess had not even spoken. “We've met her a few times. In the past. Sometimes she helped us, sometimes she....Well, I'm not entirely sure if she's a good guy or a bad guy.”

Jess nodded. “I'm going to go out on a limb here and just assume...she's bad.”

“Right you are.” River smirked, her hips swishing as she strode over to the group. He tapped the Doctor's chin with her finger, giving him a flirtatious smirk, and then turned her eyes on Jess. “Well, close enough. I'm where the money's at, Darling.”

“And how much is he paying you?” Jess asked, sending a glare at River. This seemed to bring the Doctor out of his stupor, and for the first time, he seemed to notice Jess. He glanced over her, and then looked away, but as Jess dropped herself back down into the seat and kicked her feet up on the console, she knew that he wasn't completely done.

“That's none of your business.” River retorted.

Jess rose an eyebrow, knowing the look in River's eyes. “He's not paying you, is he? You're doing this for another reason.”

She began to smirk herself as River's own faltered on her face. The fingers around her gun began to tremble.

Jess hopped up out of the chair and walked around Rory and Amy, right in front of River. She stood right beside the Doctor, pointedly not looking at him in the same manner he was making a point not to stare at her.

“You like him, don't you?” Jess teased. “He's tricked you into thinking he returns your feelings and so you're doing his bidding with the idea that when the Doctor and his companions are destroyed, the two of you will careen off into the sunset in the TARDIS.”

River's smirk fell from her face, replaced with a look of anger so raw Jess knew she had hit the mark with her assumption. She pulled the gun up and leveled it at Jess's face. The other three stepped back, but Jess made no show of fear. This was the Master's doing, and Jess knew that she would not be harmed. Not by a mere henchman.

“Are you not scared?” River asked, her face serious but once again smirking, thinking she had the upper hand.

“Should I be?” Jess asked. She walked around River, made a circle, and watched as River turned her back on the Doctor, Rory, and Amy. Her eyes glanced past River to look at the Doctor. He stared hard at River and Jess frowned.

“Oh, definitely.” River responded.

“I think not.” Jess responded. “You won't harm any of us. That's not what this was about, was it?”

Once more, River faltered, but she nodded solemnly and dropped her gun, relaxing. “Oh, I guess you're right. As much as I want to..” She turned around and gave the Doctor a wink. “I've been given orders not to kill any of you....yet.”

“But why?” This time, it was the Doctor who spoke. He stepped up, walking around to stand beside Jess while Rory and Amy inched their ways towards the door. “What's the point of all this?”

“Obviously.” Jess answered, not sure if the Doctor would ignore her or not. “She's been working for the Master. He's gotten her to orchestrate this entire thing. Kidnapping Amy, getting you here. Letting us go.”

“But WHY?!” The Doctor snapped at Jess, acknowledging her for the first time in a fit of confusion and anger.

“To show you he can, obviously.” River responded, dropping down into the chair Jess had just previously occupied. She crossed a leg over the other, dress pulling up around her thigh. Jess rolled her eyes when she caught the Doctor staring at her legs.

“It's a power play.” Jess told them. “He just wants to show you what he can do. He never had any plans to harm Amy. He knew that you would come for her. He was going to simply let you walk away with her.”

“Not exactly.” River snapped, proud that she finally had some information that Jess didn't know. “He'd fully planned on capturing the Doctor and Mr. Pond as well, and blowing the entire ship with them. It was your arrival that changed the plans completely.”

Jess glared, but said nothing and River just continued.

“How did you get here?” She tilted her head to the side, genuinely curious. “You didn't come in a ship, obviously. You weren't in the TARDIS, and you don't have a Vortex Manipulator. So how did you do it?”

“Did he really not tell you?” Jess laughed. “Did he not tell you who I am?”

River's expression tightened, but she shook her head.

Jess glanced at Amy. “You asked me earlier as well, and of course, I'm sure the Doctor and Rory are curious. Or at least Rory is....” She gave a sad glance to the Doctor, whose eyes were on the floor. “To put it very shortly, easily, and unscientifically....The Time Vortex is a part of who I am. I can control it, if I spend enough energy....That's what I did in Cardiff, to save....everyone.” She faltered, unable to say the Doctor's name. “Long story short, I used that excess energy to travel to Amy's location.”

“Like the TARDIS?” Rory asked, “Like how the Doctor followed the signal of the phone?”

“You found my phone?” Jess asked with a smile, watching as the Doctor reluctantly pulled it out of his pocket. He tossed it to her and she caught it, dropping it back into her own pocket. “Yes, like the TARDIS.”

“So you're.....a TARDIS?” Amy asked, uncertainly. “How is that possible?”

“It's not.” The Doctor responded. “And I think it's about time that we go, if River's still being kind enough to let us leave...”

River waved her hand, motioning for them to leave. “Oh please, do.”

“I've a feeling we'll meet again soon.” The Doctor responded, and Jess couldn't tell if he was upset or pleased.

“Of course, Sweetie.” River smirked, resuming her relaxed pose. “Of course.”

Jess shuddered, walking out of the room followed by the others. As soon as they were out of the room, the four of them broke into a run and did not stop once they were all standing aboard the TARDIS and the Doctor was navigating her back into the time stream.

 


	37. Chapter Thirty Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tap tap tap tap. for the drums of war thrum to the beat of the Time Lord's heart.

  “Where are we going now, then, Doctor?” Amy asked, wrapping herself in Rory's arms. The moment the TARDIS was free of the ship and River Song, the Doctor had immediately started setting coordinates for somewhere else.

“We're taking her back to her father.” The Doctor answered, not even bothering to look back at the girl he was talking about. Jess, who was standing nearer the door than she needed to.

It had only been four days since she had last been on the ship, but it felt like forever, and she knew that she was not wanted. It broke her heart, and more so when the Doctor stated he was taking her back.

“What?!” Amy cried in outrage. “Why?! She saved my life, all out lives! On a regular basis, if you'd like to know! Why would you ever send her away?!”

A soft spot warmed in Jess's heart as Amy so boldly defended her, staying silent and close to the door. She wanted to hear what the Doctor had to say, truly.

He turned on Amy, looking at her as he rocked on his heels. His dark eyes passed her and landed on Jess and when he spoke, it did not seem to be to Amy he addressed, but Jess.

“You're....impossible.” He carefully stepped past Amy, slowly down the stairs, to stand in front of Jess.

Despite the feeling in her heart, she looked up at him and met his eyes. He studied her, searched her, his eyes boring into every corner of her soul, or so it felt.

“You know how I feel about that word.” She couldn't stop the tease that came from her, but it caused a tentative smile to appear on the Doctor's face.

“You're not supposed to happen.” He told her.

“My father is a man who cannot die and my mother has looked into the heart of the TARDIS, if anyone could....it's me.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Jack is a fixed point in time. Not impossible just....highly unlikely and very wrong.”

“What's so wrong about me?” Jess asked.

“What's wrong about you?” The Doctor almost laughed as he stepped away, looking back to see Amy and Rory watching them from a safe distance. “You've surpassed a fixed point in time, Jess. You ARE time. The Time Vortex has implanted itself into your very core, and the only other living thing able to do that is the TARDIS itself.”

“Then I'm a TARDIS.” Jess shrugged.

“But you're not.” The Doctor responded. “You're human.”

“Then I'm a human.” Jess sighed, annoyance leaking through her voice.

“But you're not!” The Doctor yelled out, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Then who cares what I am?!” Jess finally lost her nerve and yelled back at him. “Is it really such a bad thing? I'm something new, but that's nothing new to you! I've heard the stories! How many times have you found something, something new, and you helped it? The New Humans, on New Earth. Mum told me that story loads of times, and you helped them! The Human Daleks, with Martha! The other you told me of those as well! You tried to help them. The Repeater on the Diamond Planet, the Gorvarians of Bree, so many, all of them new. Why am I any different?”

“Because I can't understand you!” He turned on her once more, towering over her and staring into her eyes, raw passion in his own. Emotions that Jess knew but had no names for. Anger, confusion, caring, hope, fear. All swirling in the depths of his eyes, and her anger faded.

“You haven't even tried.” She responded, her voice suddenly stopped. She sighed, looking at him sadly. “You know, this isn't the first time we've had this conversation.”

The Doctor seemed taken aback by the comment at first, but then his expression fell. Jess walked over to the steps and sat down on the second one, aware that Amy and Rory had disappeared. She was almost thankful for that, for the privacy.

The Doctor found himself sitting down right beside her, a few inches between them. He rested his elbows on his knees, running his fingers through his hair. “And...what happened last time?”

Jess glanced at him. “He told me that it didn't matter what I was, that I was Rose's daughter, I was family, and I would always have a place in the TARDIS.”

“You're not twenty, are you?” The Doctor asked, hesitantly.

The question made Jess laugh. “No, no I'm not.”

“Then how old are you, really?”

“How old are you?”

The Doctor gave a soft laugh. “Twelve hundred, give or take a few centuries. I'm so old that I forget.”

“Three hundred and seventy eight.” Jess finally spoke up, after their soft laughter had faded into silence. She didn't look a him as she said this, playing with the watch on her wrist. She hadn't bothered to hide it anymore.

“Sonic Watch, huh?” He asked, and they both know they'd had this part of the conversation before.

“With a chameleon circuit.”

“Brilliant.” The Doctor grinned at her, and when she looked at him, she found herself grinning as well. Then he stood up, rubbing his hands together. “Come on, you should get a shower and a nap. I'm thinking of hitting Barcelona tomorrow, the planet. Always mean to go there, haven't had a chance.”

“Wait...” Jess stood up, following the Doctor up the steps. “You're not taking me back?”

“Well, I can't really do that, can I?” He asked, turning around to smile at her. “I said it myself, didn't I? You'll always have a place on the TARDIS...if you want, I mean...You...you're welcome to stay...”

Jess smiled softly. “I'd love to stay, but why would you let me? Aside from what the other Doctor told me?”

This caused the Doctor to pause, and he walked to her, placing his hand on her cheek. He looked at her like he had that very first time, as if she were the only puzzle in the universe worth solving. “You're the girl who would tear the universe apart to save my life.” He told her. “I can think of no one better to have by my side. But, you have not been honest with me, and I need to be able to trust you. Jess, if I can help it, I will not lie to you. But please, give me that same consideration?”

Jess gave a sigh, pulling the Doctor's hand from her cheek. “Alright. I have been completley honest up until now, about all but one thing.”

“And what is that?” The Doctor asked, almost holding his breath at the anticipation.

“It's not you the Master is after.” She told him, stepping away and looking into his eyes. “It's me.”

“You?” The Doctor could not wrap his head around the idea, could not link one to the other. Realization filled his eyes and his expression changed. “You knew that River would not harm you. You knew why she was working for the Master. Tell me, how?”

Jess gave the smallest, saddest of smiles. “She is not the first he has tricked into following him. I don't think he looks the same as the last you saw him. He's young, handsome, charismatic. He could trick even the purest of souls into the darkest of deeds...”

“Did he trick you?” The Doctor asked, and Jess knew by the look in his eyes that he didn't want the answer.

“Yes.” Regret, that was the only emotion hear in her voice, and it came with a heartbreaking sound.

“What did you do?” He stepped forward, reaching out a hand, but withdrawing it quickly, his eyes searching her.

She shook her head. “It doesn't matter. It's in the past and I cannot change it. You understand that, Doctor....more than anyone.”

He nodded darkly, reminded painfully of the one moment in his life that he wished he could change. “I understand.”

Jess gave a soft smile. “Maybe I'll tell you, one day. But not today, please?”

The Doctor nodded at this, giving her a comfortable smile. She returned it, and then it faded. “This was only his first attack.” Jess responded. “He's not going to stop. He will try again.”

“Then we'll be ready for him.” The Doctor responded. “Until then, what about Barcelona?”

Jess laughed. “Barcelona, it is.”

The Doctor danced around the console, twisting dials and pushing buttons. He paused and looked around the console at Jess. “Well, what are you just standing there for. You know how to fly her, help!”

Jess beamed, grabbing the lever and throwing it down. The TARDIS gave a shake and the two of them let out screams of joy, spinning and twisting and dancing around the console as the TARDIS flew through the vortex on the way to their next journey.

  
  


Somewhere else, in another space and time, a woman in a black dress and red heels stood at the side of a throne. “They've taken the bait, Master.”

A young man, looking to be in his late twenties, blonde hair, and blue eyes that gave away the vastness of his years, gave a smirk. “She will be mine.”

River Song smirked. “And then the Doctor shall be mine.”

The Master looked up at his pet, smiling deviously. “And what will you do once you have him?”

“Well, kill him, of course.” River smirked.

The Master turned back to the console of his ship, looking out at the stars around them, the vast port that he docked in. He smirked, his plan in action, and his finger tapped lightly on the arm of his chair.

Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap.  


	38. Chapter Thirty Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's been so much action and adventure in the last few chapters, I thought that we could use a bit of a breather. Therefore, instead of popping right into the next adventure (don't worry, that's coming soon) We've got this wonderful bit of domestic....would this be domestic? Come on, though, Barcelona!

“Barcelona!” The Doctor stepped backwards into the Tardis, arms open wide in a grand gesture. He had several flower necklaces wrapped around his neck and a hat with a tiny little umbrella sticking out of it. In all honesty, he looked quite ridiculous.

Following him into the TARDIS, were Jess, Amy, and Rory, all in ridiculous outfits of their own. Jess had a bright pink swimsuit on, covered by a fancy sun dress, all done up with frills and bows and laces like she would never have worn on any other occasion, with almost over sized flip-flops and a large floppy hat donning one of those ridiculous umbrellas. Amy's outfit was almost matching. Swimsuit beneath a pair of outlandish bell-bottoms and a tank top striped with clashing, bright colors. She had her own hat of umbrellas and flower necklaces. Rory wore a tie-dyed pair of swim trunks and an almost too small bright yellow tank top with 'BARCELONA: The Planet' scrawled across it in large black block lettering. He'd forgone a hat and had his little umbrella stuck neatly behind his ear.

“That was....amazing!” Jess grinned, dropping her bag down on the floor by the door.

“Oh, wasn't it?” The Doctor responded, taking the steps two at a time. “I've always meant to go to Barcelona, never had a chance. Knew I'd get around to it some day. But where to next? Now that I've been to Barcelona, I don't know what else I should see. Never thought about that. So many places to go, you know. So many places, and I always wanted to go to this one and now...”

“Doctor?” Amy all but laughed until he looked at her. “Shut up.”

Rory laughed, following Amy up the steps and to the corridors leading back to the bedrooms. Jess dropped into the jump seat and watched the Doctor.

The Doctor, full of indignant pouting, turned to Jess for some kind of back up.

“Don't look at me like that.” Jess laughed. “Figure it out on your own. I need a bath.”

The Doctor rocked on his heels, puppy dog pout on his face long after his human friends, and Jess, had left him alone in the console room. He gave a soft sigh, smile lingering on his face even as he reached out to grab a lever and pull it down. He didn't have to look at the console to know what he was doing, but he knew it was better if he did, and he pulled his eyes away from the corridor and started his dance around the console, sending them back into the time vortex.

Jess dropped herself back into her bedroom. For once, she didn't bother locking her door behind her. Her coat no longer hidden away in a drawer, it hung on a hook the TARDIS had provided for her. She had missed her room, and missed her bed. It felt like a thousand years since she'd been in the TARDIS.

She took a long bath, longer than normal, and got herself dressed in something comfy to sleep in. Then, she slipped out of her room and headed for the archived kitchen. It had become like habit, to have tea in the old kitchen, using the cup with Roses that the Doctor was so careful with.

She walked in to find that the kettle had already been put on. Two cups sat waiting on the counter, ready to have the water added to them.

“I thought you'd be here eventually.” The Doctor's voice startled her.

“Doctor!” She jumped, spinning around to find him sitting at the table, feet propped up on another chair. She smiled. “I didn't expect to see you here.”

His smile made her heart skip a beat. He put his feet down and rose from the chair, crossing the room in a few steps of his long legs, and stood beside her, taking the whistling kettle from the stove.

“It seems I've grown quite accustomed to having tea with you in here.” He spoke softly. “I guess some habits are hard to break.”

She glanced at him, realizing that his jacket had disappeared. His suspenders as well. He stood in front of her in socked feet and trousers, shirt un-tucked.

“And you made a cup for me as well?” She asked, leaning against the counter and watching him pour the tea into the cup.

“Habits aren't just for Time Lords.” He glanced at her, lips twitching into the semblance of a smile. A short silence followed and he spoke again. “It doesn't taste quite the same as the tea you make, but it's still good, I think.”

Jess leaned against the counter, wrapping her fingers around the warm cup. “I'm sure it tastes fine.” She took a sip, and smiled. “It's wonderful.”

The smile that beamed across the Doctor's face was almost blinding. And then it faded when he turned his back to her. “Jess. I need to...to apologize.”

“For what?” She asked, taking another sip of her tea, though she knew what.

She watched the Doctor's throat undulate as he gulped, watched his tongue peek out to lick his dry lips. “I shouldn't have just left you there.”

“No.” Jess spoke softly. “You shouldn't have.”

He flinched, and Jess gave him a soft smile. “But I'm here. For as long as you want me. Anytime you need.”

The Doctor turned and looked at her, eyes searching. “Why do you care so much?” He sat his cup down gently, reaching up with his fingers to touch her cheek. The way he looked at her, it made her want to shiver, to run and hide from his searching, curious eyes. “I've traveled with so many people, through all my lives, and I have never met someone who cared so strongly...”

Jess laughed softly, reaching up and taking his hand in her own, resting her cheek against his large, warm hand. “You met my mother.”

The Doctor laughed, but there was sadness in his eyes. “Rose Tyler, Defender of Earth.” The words sounded foreign on his tongue after all this time. “She really was one of a kind.”

“So you say.” Jess laughed. “I knew you in that Universe, Doctor. I grew up with you. Well, I grew up around you.”

“How did Rose deal with that?” The Doctor asked, suddenly. “Her daughter being a few hundred years older than her.”

Jess laughed and shrugged. “I still looked younger, so she wasn't too bothered by it. It was mostly when I borrowed the TARDIS...”

“You did what?” The Doctor pulled his hand away, suddenly indignant and reminding her a bit too much of the Doctor who helped raise her, somewhat. “Why on Earth would you steal the TARDIS?”

“Why would you?” Jess laughed, raising an eyebrow.

“That was different...”

“I wanted to see the universe. Help people.” Jess spoke vaguely, taking a sip from her tea.

The Doctor smiled, and picked his own cup back up. “I do have to ask....is the reason you want to stay with me because...because of him?”

Jess thought for a moment, and then smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. “You look so different, but you're still so much the same. I promise you, Doctor. The reason I'm here isn't some misplaced loyalty, or any deep-seated daddy issues. You are not the man who raised me. Not anymore.”

The Doctor looked at her sideways out of his eyes. “Good. Because I'm not prepared to be anyone's dad..”

Jess laughed. “You a dad? I could hardly picture it.” This caused the Doctor to laugh as well, until Jess gave a soft sigh, hiding her expression behind a mug of tea. “I saw that version of you as an amazing man. Not my father, but a man who raised me to be a good person. A man who would give up the world for those he cared about, would give his own hand to save the innocent.”

“I actually did that once...” The Doctor muttered.

“I know.” Jess laughed. “I don't see you like that, Doctor. To me...you're not...you're not a father figure. You are...” She sat down her cup, her eyes wandering around every part of the room but the part where we was standing. “You are so much more than that. You are my friend.”

She could feel the Doctor's soft smile at her words, but would not look up at him. Instead, she focused on her cup of tea.

“I've been traveling with you for six months, and I only now realize how little I know about you.” He admitted.

Jess laughed, finally looking back up at him. “Well, maybe you should start paying attention.”

“Maybe I will.” The Doctor responded, and Jess wasn't sure if he was just being his usual self, or if he was actually flirting with her. Sometimes, she couldn't tell the difference.

“So.” Jess spoke after a while, looking up at the Doctor with a smile on her face. “I think I've thought of a place where we can go next.”

“Where's that?” He asked, excited smile back on his face.

Jess sat her empty cup down and looked up at him. “Have you ever heard of the Planet of the Sands?”

“More beaches?” The Doctor asked. “Don't you think we've seen enough beaches?”

“Come now, Doctor. Don't you think it'd be a great gift for the Ponds?” She wiggled her eyebrows, amused at his confused response.

“What's it got to do with Amy and Rory?” He asked.

“Well, from what I recall, it is their wedding anniversary tomorrow, after all.” Jess spoke up. “Don't you think a vacation to the single largest and most amazing spa would be a great gift?”

The Doctor's eyes lit up. “Oh...oh! That's wonderful! Come on!”

Jess laughed, barely having time to sit her cup down before the Doctor had grabbed her hand and was nearly dragging her down the corridors to the main console room.

 


	39. Chapter Thirty Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So....vacation to a resort planet. Amy and Rory alone time. Jess and the Doctor....doing what now?! Oh Lord, help us all...

The Planet of Sands had been named very accurately. The Fourth planet in the Kadoori System, it was the central point of the galaxy. Comparable to Pluto in it's size, the entire planet was nothing but sands and water with one exception. A great glass dome covered a vast majority of the planet with a massive, sprawling city nestled safely inside.

It was just outside this dome, in the great docking bay, that the TARDIS materialized. Out of it stepped four people, dressed for a great day at the spa. All except one, who instead of wearing comfy clothes, dressed unusually like a primary school maths teacher. The four of them laughed together as they joined a sparse crowd headed into the main dome.

The four of them were completely unaware that somewhere within the vast walls, there was a person sitting behind a desk, tapping a long, manicured finger against the oaken desk. This person watched a television monitor depicting a scene of four people, walking through a parking lot towards a reception hall above which stood a great brass sign 'Leisure Palace Company Resorts'

“So, first.” Amy told them as they walked into the large front doors. The Doctor looked up at the sign above the door with a thoughtful smile on his face while Amy picked up a pamphlet and looked through it. “I think we'll be going to the sauna, then probably a massage...oohhhh. Look, Rory, Swedish Massages.”

Jess chuckled, following the group into the reception. A large white room with mint trim and big, tropical potted plants. At the large desk on the opposite side of the room, sat four....what could only be called receptionists.

Assuming they were females, the receptionists sported white uniforms, a stark contrast to their emerald green skin. Their slender faces perched on long necks, plump pink lips sitting sideways on their faces. Their eyes were on stalks, blinking first horizontally and then vertically.

The alien the Doctor walked up to had a name tag that read “Albelia” and the Doctor smiled, leaning forward.

“Reservation for four.” He told her. “Under the name Smith.”

Albelia looked behind the Doctor at the other three of them, blinked, and then started tapping on her computer. Her sideways mouth curved into what Jess thought was a smile.

“The Doctor plus three. One suite in the Hebradeese Hotel.” She pushed a button and out of a slot beside the computer, a small tablet appeared. She placed it on the counter in front of the Doctor. “Take the Keycard through door 9B and board the number Twelve. It'll take you right there.”

“Thank you.” The Doctor plucked the Keycard from the counter and started walking towards the door as if he already knew exactly where they were going.

Jess chuckled, pointing to opposite way. “Doctor, door 9B is on this side.”

“What?” He turned around, confused and a bit embarrassed, to look at the spot where she had been pointing, to a hallway labeled “B doors.”

He chuckled and spun around, going the right direction. All the way, Amy talked to Rory about all the things they wanted to do while Rory whined that they didn't have enough time in a year to try everything she wanted to do. Jess stood silently beside the Doctor, who looked everywhere but at her.

The Suite they had gotten was rather large. It opened up up into a furnished living area with an open kitchen, separated by a bar. A glass door opened up onto a balcony, overlooking a beach, and four door branched off leading to two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“Why are there only two bedrooms?” Jess asked, after looking around the place.

The Doctor shrugged. “I don't need to sleep, so why would I pay for a third bedroom? There's one for Amy and Rory, and one for you. I'll take the couch if I feel the need to sleep.” He dropped himself down on the couch and kicked his feet up onto the arm of it as he spoke.

Amy slapped his feet down and snapped to get his shoes off the furniture. Jess pulled him to his feet, sliding her arm around his own.

“We're going to go, anyway.” Jess told them. “You guys make yourself comfortable. I'll shoot Amy a text as soon as we're on our way back.”

Amy and Rory looked at each other, the Doctor looked confused, and Jess laughed as she pulled him out of the room.

“What? Why are we leaving? We should be celebrating!” He fell into step with her after he realized that she wasn't going to let him go back.

“Don't you think they might want to spend some time alone?” Jess questioned. “It's their wedding anniversary. They should spend it with each other. Besides, you aren't going to let me wander around by myself, are you? Poor, defenseless girl in a big, confusing city?”

The Doctor cracked a grin. “I would hardly call you defenseless.”

“True.” Jess responded. “But it's still more fun to go exploring with someone.”

“Then, let's go explore.” He told her, grinning and correcting her grip on his arm more comfortably.

They walked around for the first few hours, just looking at things. They had met and spoke with a few couples who had all assumed the two were together. Neither of them bothered to correct them. They walked through the shopping district, looking in all the shops, got some food at a streetside stall. Jess wasn't sure what it was that she was tasing, but it looked like a fried tentacle on a stick and it tasted like raspberries and chicken.

She walked side by side with the Doctor, lazily, down the street, when it happened. She saw the great big sign with the flashing lights, advertising it.

“Doctor!” Jess grinned, pointing at the building. “Let's go there? I want to go there!”

“There?” The Doctor asked, making a face as he read the sign. “But those things are so boring...”

“Oh, come on, Doctor! It'll be fun!” She whined, giving him the best puppy dog pout that she could muster, and he just couldn't say no to that.

Of course, he almost did, and only agreed by huffing out. “You look just like your mother when you do that.” and storming on ahead of her.

Jess ignored the comment and laughed, catching up to him and taking his hand. They walked into the building and the Doctor showed them his pass.

Inside the building, there was a large, dimly lit hallway. Doors lined each side of the corridor, some of them had a red sign reading 'Occupied' while some had yellow signs reading 'Reserved.' The Doctor let Jess lead him through the hallway until the found a room with a white sign stating that it was vacant.

She pushed the door open and pulled the Doctor inside, shutting the door behind them and flicking the lock. The white slot above the door turned to red and Jess turned back around to grin at the Doctor.

The room was large enough for about fourteen, with a large sofa and a table. Against one wall there was a panel where drinks and food could be ordered, and on the wall opposite the door there was a large screen. Connected to the screen, a machine of black wires connected to a silver helmet.

Jess jumped up to the monitor and grabbed the helmet. “I'm going first!”

The Doctor sighed, dropping down onto the couch and motioning her to get on with it. “I'm only here to humor you. I've no plans to even try this thing out. I'm absolute rubbish at these things.”

“Oh, I bet you're not that bad.” Jess responded, but she'd already fitted the helmet onto her head. The screen had come to life, cycling through all the music that she knew. The Doctor would not admit that she knew quite a few songs, more than most humans.

Jess stopped on a song, some 90's American Earth Ballad, and the music for the song started playing through the room. The words popped up on the screen.

“A Kareoke room that only plays songs you already know.” The Doctor groaned, closing his eyes and resting his head back against the couch. “What a useless invention.”

Of course, four hours later, he sat on a stool beside Jess, a matching helmet on his head and a spare mic in his hand, belting out the lyrics to I'm Gonna Be, by The Proclaimers.

 


	40. Chapter Forty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so, another adventure begins. Amy and Rory off having fun. It's up to Jess and the Doctor to figure out what's going on with this planet and fix it. So much going on, so much yet to happen.

“I maintain the position that this is, in fact, all your fault.” Jess sat down on the stone bench in a huff, arms crossed over her chest. She crossed her legs the same direction, just to make it a point how annoyed she was.

The Doctor stumbled into the holding cell behind her, almost tripping. “My fault? I'm not the one who took the screen apart!”

“You said you wanted to make the words rainbow!” Jess defended, pouting. “I was only giving you what you wanted. Besides, if you wouldn't have gotten distracted looking at the wiring then no one would have noticed that we'd broken the machine.”

“And why did they find out we broke the machine?” The Doctor asked, waving his arms around as he paced, spinning on Jess and pointing an accusatory finger at her. “Because you ordered drinks and the waitress showed up!”

“So it's my fault because I got thirsty?!” Jess's voice rose and she stood, staring down the Doctor.

"I told you that there was a water cooler in the hallway.” He snapped. “What did you have to order alcohol for. I don't even drink alcohol!”

“What?” Jess gave him a genuinely confused expression. “Don't lie, Doctor. I've seen you drinking before.”

“What? When?” He defiantly asked.

Jess stuttered for a moment, recalling a memory quickly. “When we were at the gala in Beren, you were drinking champagne.”

The Doctor laughed. Genuine, deep from the belly laughter. Wrapped his arms around himself and fell down onto the stone seat before wiping a tear and looking up at Jess.

“That's wasn't champagne. That was apple juice.”

“You don't even like apples.”

“Doesn't mean I don't like their juice.”

The two of them looked at each other in silence for a moment, both making their best attempt not to be the one who laughs first. Jess bit her lip, trying to keep her lips from tugging up into the smile that she could feel bubbling up in her heart. The Doctor's appearance matched, his lips tight and his cheeks pulling up into that dimpled smile that Jess loved seeing on his face.

They both burst into laughter at the same time – though Jess would admit that the Doctor broke first, and of course he would say the same of her. They both sat down, leaning against each other as they laughed until they couldn't breath, gasped for air, and laughed some more.

The giggles had all but died down when the bars of their cell opened back up, the stern looking security bot that put them in there standing in the doorway.

“Your guardians have arrived. You are free to do.” The bot told them.

They kept giggling as they walked out of the holding area and found an almost angry Amy and Rory standing in the station's waiting area.

“What the hell were you two doing?” Amy scolded, the moment the two were released to her. “Rory and I were having an amazing time in the private hot tub with our room service, and right in the middle of...” She glanced at Rory, and quickly continued speaking. “Doesn't matter what, and we get a call from the police! You two were arrested and we needed to come bail you out....Doctor, I am not your mother, I shouldn't have to be bailing you out of jail. Jess, I thought you knew better.”

“It was her fault.” The Doctor quickly laid blame, pointing his finger at Jess while Amy stared between the two of them.

“My fault!” Jess whined, but before the two of them could rehash their earlier argument, Amy held up her hand.

“I don't care whose fault it was. You two are going back to the hotel, and you're going to stay there while Rory and I go have a good time.” She turned, immediately walking out the door with the unspoken command to follow.

Jess and the Doctor responded in kind, trailing behind her like kids caught breaking the rules. They shared glances, and hidden giggles with Rory bringing up the rear. Otherwise, there was silence between them until the were safely back inside the hotel room.

The Doctor dropped down onto the couch and flipped on the television to the first trashy soap opera he could find. Jess pouted, stating that it wasn't fair they weren't allowed out. Amy took the key, locked the door, and left with Rory.

No more than five seconds had passed after the door shut that the Doctor jumped out of his seat and ran to the door, jiggling the handle.

“She actually locked it.” He sounded baffled, almost disappointed.

“Well, she doesn't want us leaving.” Jess stated the obvious.

“She didn't bother to take our Sonics.” The Doctor pointed out, pulling his Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket. “Why would Amelia Pond lock the door and not take the Sonic?”

Jess shrugged. “Because she doesn't actually expect us to stay locked up in a room for a few hours?”

The Doctor laughed. “Of course not, specially not with such an interesting mystery on our hands!”

“Mystery?” Jess asked, watching as the Doctor unlocked the door. She followed him out into the hallway, falling into step beside him as they talked. Well, he talked and she listened.

“The cables, in the television.” He had started, but then he started speaking all sorts of technical terms and confusing things that Jess couldn't possibly understand or keep up with. She didn't even bother trying, but caught back up when he came to his conclusion and they walked right out of the hotel into the warm street. “The technology is all wrong. The circuitry doesn't make sense, and I'm assuming if it's like that in the karaoke bar, then it's probably like that everywhere.”

“So, what's the plan, Doctor?” Jess gave him a knowing grin, shoving her hands in her pockets as she followed him along for the adventure.

“Do what we do best.” He returned the grin.

Twenty minutes later had the two of them walking into the back door of some fancy restaurant hotel add-on in a fancy district of town several miles from their own hotel. They had 'borrowed' some staff clothes from a truck in the back ally. The Doctor was dressed in a smart black suit and Jess wore a typical black pencil skirt and white shirt with black vest.

“Why does everything always fit you?” Jess complained, tugging at the too small vest that she wore. “This thing is way too tight. I feel like I'm going to pop out.”

“Oh, it's not like there's anything to see.” The Doctor teased, which got him a slap from the offended blonde.

“Alright...” He rubbed his cheek where it had started to turn red. “Just try to blend in, and the first moment that you get a chance, try to get to level five.”

“What's on level five?” Jess asked. She knew he'd told her this moments before, but she'd been a little distracted trying not to stare at him while he changed into his disguise.

He blinked at her for a few moments with what she thought could be annoyance, and then he spoke again. “I believe that's where they keep their offices. I need you to take a look around and see if you can find any information that you can.”

Jess nodded, following the Doctor down the narrow, empty hallway into the kitchens. She could hear the noise up ahead, all the people – alien and human – bustling around doing work. Unaware that something might possibly be trying to kill them all. She decided to ask one more thing before they joined the crowd and split up.

“What are you going to be doing?” She stopped, just before walking beyond the door and into adventure.

The Doctor rocked back on his heels, giving her a playful grin as he played with the buttons on his suit coat. “I'm going to do what I do best.” He almost laughed the words as he tucked his Sonic Screwdriver into the inside pocket of his jacket.

Jess swiped her finger across her watch, letting it flicker into the appearance of a plain, silver bracelet. “I'll see you again in a few hours?”

He nodded, and ducked into the kitchen, joining a queue of waiters grabbing dishes to take out to the patrons.

Jess slipped in, unsure of what she needed to be doing. It didn't take long before someone came up to her, calling out a gruff. “Hey you, stop lazing around.”

Jess spun around to face the speaker, a grizzled old woman. Jess would have assumed she were human had it not been for the inhuman yellow of her eyes. She wore a similar outfit to Jess's with a bright golden name tag labeling her as the staff lead.

She ignored Jess's muttered apologies and directed her immediately to a waiting rolling tray full of food.

“Room 694A has ordered room service.” The woman told Jess, tapping on the tray. “Take this up to them right away. No dawdling, and make sure you get the payment, or it'll come out of your pay.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” Jess responded, biting her lip. She had never let anyone speak to her so rudely or sharply, well with the exception of one man but that was a long time ago and she didn't really have a choice then, either.

She grabbed the cart and started rolling it back through the hallway she had just come. Just past the doorway, there had been a service elevator, which she rolled the cart in, giving a small polite nod to the maids coming out of it at the same time.

She stepped into the elevator cart and pressed the button for the sixth floor, waiting for the doors to slide shut. The elevator moved up with a lurch and a loud hum, no smooth jazz elevator music to hide the clacking sounds of the chains pulling the small metal cart up six stories into the sky. She shuddered at the though, an image of that chain breaking and the cart, with her in it, plummeting to the ground.

The elevator screeched to a stop and someone else got on, an alien man – she could only tell because he wore the same male suit uniform that the Doctor had put on. He made a gurgling sound at her that she assumed was hims speaking.

She smiled politely until he got off a few floors later, and then the elevator stopped once more on the sixth floor.

She quickly shuffled the cart off and started pushing it through the halls. The hotel corridors had a distinctly...ancient feel to them. Like something out of an eighties American movie. Tacky argyle carpets and matching wallpaper, with gaudy gold fixtures and railings. The red doors had gold plates marking the room numbers.

Jess followed along these until the came to the right hallway and started searching for the proper door. It took no time at all, and she knocked.

The occupants took the cart and left her some money which she shoved into her pocket before giving an obligatory nod and heading back to the elevator shaft.

With a quick glance around the corridor to make sure that no one was watching, she ducked past the elevators and into the stairwell nearby. The door gave a heavy clunk behind her as it shut and she found herself in almost darkness.

“Really?” She huffed out to herself, tapping on her Sonic Watch until it began to emit a bright green light, not much but enough to see by. “What's the point of stairs if you don't have lights. Do they know how dangerous that is?”

She received no answer, however, not that she expected one, and she started her way carefully down the steps to the floor below.

“Floor five.” She muttered, pushing the door opened. “Let's see what's going on here...”

 


	41. Chapter Forty One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess is on her own for this one. Let's just hope the Doctor gets back in the game soon...for all our sakes.

  The sound of the Sonic device on Jess's wrist made the only noise in the deserted hallway as she aimed the glowing face of the watch towards the electronic keypad of the door. She glanced side to side to make sure that no one was coming.

She'd decided to check this particular room mainly because it was the only door that was locked. One single locked door in a hallway full of empty rooms, and not just empty of people. These rooms had nothing, not even carpet or paint on the walls. Just empty, unfinished rooms, debris on the floor as if everything had recently been pulled up.

All except this one room, which not only was locked, but used a rather high tech security protocol system that Jess was currently using her Sonic to decode.

It gave a beep and she checked the results, smiling as she tapped in the correct code. The little red light flickered to green and the door clicked open. Jess carefully pulled it open, just enough to slip inside, and then closed it behind her.

She had to blink a few times to adjust to the lighting in the room after feeling around the wall revealed no light switch. The only lights in the room came from what appeared to be some kind of monitors or computers spaces evenly around the room against the walls.

Blinking, she realized that these lights came from console panels, and that on the opposite wall, there was a much larger console. This is the one she approached first, squinting through the darkness as she tried to understand what she was looking at.

Screens showed what looked like vital signs. Another screen ran through a matrix grid, and even another showed what appeared to be a control screen except Jess couldn't understand any of the symbols on the screen. It didn't seem to be any form of a language.

Her attention drew to the monitor showing life signs, or what appeared to be a series of heart beats, green lines going up and down in almost even patterns. Thirteen different wavelengths. She froze. Paused for a moment and hardly let a breath come from her.

Slowly, she looked up and around her, at the small monitors around the room. Thirteen lights. She hadn't been aware she was shaking until she started walking towards the nearest console. She steadied her hand as she tried to tap her Sonic Watch to bring up the flashlight setting.

A bright light surrounded her wrist as she held it up at the nearest console. She already knew what she would find, but that did not lessen the shock as her watch lit the pale face of a human girl.

Probably no more than thirty, the brunette was sitting straight as a board in a metal chair. The light beside her came from a small monitor similar to the main one. Connecting the woman to the machine was a group of wires attached to a helmet on her head. Alarmingly similar to the helmets that Jess and the Doctor had been wearing earlier that day while singing to ridiculous songs that they dredged up.

Jess frowned, quickly checking the woman's vital signs for herself, scanned her with the Sonic, and immediately moved around the room to check all the other machines. All Thirteen held someone, whether it was a human or otherwise. There even stood a fourteenth machine, unused.

Jess went back to the woman, checking the monitor once more. It showed that this woman's name was Susan.

“Don't worry, Susan.” Jess whispered, tapping furiously on the monitor. “The Doctor and I are going to get you out of here.”

She searched all the files on the computer that she could. Some of them made sense, but a lot of them didn't even seem to be language, just an indecipherable string of symbols and numbers. She felt close to a breakthrough when she heard a noise coming down the hallway.

Jess bit her lip, freezing in her spot. It sounded like people, and she couldn't afford to be caught. Jess quickly glanced around the dimly lit room before wedging herself between the machine and the wall, behind Susan, in hopes that if the people entered the room, it would be too dark for them to see her where she was hiding.

Luck didn't seem to be with her today, as the door swung open moments after she's ducked down into her hiding place. She had just enough space to peek through that she could see the forms of three people enter the room. One, a rather small woman and seemingly human. The other two were much larger, alien creatures with huge muscles. Body guards, Jess thought.

“Watch the door.” The woman ordered the two lumbering aliens. She walked straight to the console, seeming to have no issue with the darkness of the room. Only a bit of light flooded in through the doorway, but it was still very dim.

The woman, dressed in a tight pencil skirt style dress, hair up in an even tighter bun, and heels high enough to cross a river without getting her feet wet, tapped on the monitor's screen. Jess could see something in her hand, a disc of some kind.

“Once we've finished the downloading sequence and wiped their minds.” The woman spoke, but Jess could not tell if it was to herself of to her body guards. “Then the final phase of testing can begin. The Company will be so pleased if this works. I might even get lucky enough to have my old position back.” She sounded pleased.

Jess watched, inching closer for a better look, as the woman pushed the disc into the machine and started tapping on buttons once more. A loud thunk resounded through the room and Jess's heart stopped once more.

Three sets of eyes turned immediately in her direction.

“Who's there?” The woman called out.

Jess made no move, hoping that they were stupid and would ignore it. Still, no such luck. One of the body guards rushed forward and pulled her from her hiding space by her hair. She let out a great shriek, trying to keep the thing from ripping all her hair out.

“Come now, Grum, don't hurt the girl.” The woman said, and almost immediately the alien released her and she stumbled forward.

Jess straightened up, fixing her skirt and her hair before turning to the woman with a defiant expression on her face.

The woman looked her up and down. “You're wearing an employee uniform, but I know all the employees here and you are not one of them. Who are you?”

“I'm new.” Jess responded, hoping she could like her way out of the situation. “It's my first day and I just...got a little lost.”

The woman rose an eyebrow, arms crossing over her chest. She seemed almost amused. “Got lost? In the corner of a locked room on a floor that's off limits to anyone except management? Not likely.”

“Well, it was worth a try.” Jess laughed it off. If only she had the Doctor's physic paper, she thought.

“Actually...” The woman spoke again. “You do look a bit familiar. In fact, I do remember you. You were with that group of people who arrived in the blue box. Tell me, Girl, are you here with the Doctor?”

Jess paused. This woman knew the Doctor? That could only mean that this was definitely something not good. “Doctor?” Jess played dumb. “I'm sure I don't know what you mean. I came here with my husband and our friends for their wedding anniversary.”

“And you've just found your way into this room on accident, I suppose? You weren't, oh, I don't know....told to come here by the Doctor to try and stop our development on this project?” Her voice darkened, became more stern.

“Project?” Jess started to back away, hoping she could just make it to the door and make a run for it. Unfortunately, as she stepped back, she collided with the large form of Grum. “I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a lost guest, that's all.”

“You're an accomplice of the Doctor, and I will not let him ruin me again!” The woman hissed. “Seize her!”

Jess didn't have time to run, four huge arms reached out and grabbed her, holding tightly enough to bruise. One held each of her arms, though she struggled for a moment before finally giving up. Instead of fighting, she decided to try and get more information.

“What do you mean by again?” She asked.

The woman looked at her, thoughtful for a moment. “Well, since you're not going to be leaving this room, I guess there's no problem in telling you.” She turned back around at this point, tapping on the computer once more. “A few years back, I was the head of a division of our company. I set up a base on a planet called Midnight. Everything was fine, there wasn't a problem, until the Doctor showed up talking about some impossible creature. He scared the company into shutting down my division. I was demoted and sent to this half-rate planet, but now that my new computer technology is almost finished, I'm going to impress the company and get my position back and get off this god forsaken rock.”

Jess frowned. She'd never been told about a planet called Midnight. That must have been a story the Doctor and his Mum had never gotten to.

“Computer technology?” Jess asked, looking around the room at the people trapped in the harnesses. “How is this computer? Or technology?”

The woman laughed bitterly. “What makes a better processing unit than a brain?” she asked, waving her hands around. “That's all this is. Merely a computer processor. This one room already runs eight blocks of this city's computers. Imagine that, fourteen people connected to the system I developed running through their brains and they run with twice the speed and processing power as double the amount of computers would do. Genius, really. Well, it took a while at first to get it working properly. Brains burnt out too fast. Now, we can make a brain last at least two years.”

“Burn out?” Jess looked around once more, this time in horror. “All these people are going to die?!”

“And so are you.” the woman responded with a polite, distant smile on her face. “Hook her up.”

Jess's struggles were in vain. The two brutish aliens forced her into the empty chair, holding her down while the woman placed the helmet on her head.

Jess screamed out one last time before the machine started up and her body stiffened in the chair, her mind lost in the computer.

“I knew it.” the woman grinned victoriously, but angrily. “The Doctor is here. We must find him and neutralize him before we start the final phase. This project can not go wrong.”

The woman looked at Jess once more before walking out of the room, her final shout still ringing through the hair.

 

  
  


Elsewhere in the hotel, three men sat around a fire, smoking cigars and sipping whiskey. Another stood nearby, talking animatedly with them about something none of them understood, but all pretended to.

Halfway through a sentence, the speaker stopped, looking up at the ceiling above him with a worried expression.

“What's it then, Doctor?” One of the men asked. “Why'd you stop your tale?”

“Nothing...” He muttered. “I just thought I...heard my name...”

“Well, go on then and finish your story!” another urged.

The Doctor's smile returned and he continued speaking, though in the back of his mind he began to wonder if Jess was alright. He had meant to meet up with her already, before having been sidetracked with these men in an attempt to get information from them. They were, after all, the owners of this hotel chain and many other shops on the planet.   


	42. Chapter Forty Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey!! Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I'm having issues with my internet again. But I'm going to start trying to get updates through as often as possible. 
> 
> I also got the Doctor Who RPG game, and me and my friends are trying to start up a group to play it! Which is gonna be awesome. We've got a facebook group to play online together if we can't all meet in person, too. 
> 
> Anyway, last we saw, Jess was captured and it was up to the Doctor to save her. Let's see what the Doctor's up to....

The Doctor grinned to himself, clasping his hands together as he watched the pleased reaction to his last statement. It had only taken about two hours, but he'd charmed these men into telling him exactly what he'd needed to know, and now he was absolutely certain. There was something very unusual going on in this hotel.

His mind had not been still since he had heard, or thought he'd heard, someone screaming his name. Whatever it was, he had sensed that something was wrong and he thought Jess was in trouble. Except, she could handle herself – as she'd proved on many occasions, and he'd talked himself into believing that she was handling herself and would be alright until he was done with his own task.

However, it had been a little more than two hours since he'd seen her last, and he was starting to get worried. He looked for an opportunity in the conversation to excuse himself, but something interesting pulled him right back in.

“Oh, Doctor.” One of the paunchy men called his name, leaning forward and motioning to a woman walking towards them. “You simply must meet Madam Cruisa. She's head of the facility, you see.”

“Ah, Madam Cruisa!” The Doctor spun around and recognized her instantly. “We've met once before, I think.” He started, speaking almost too quickly for the daft old men to follow along with his words. “Course, I had a different face back then. Midnight, wasn't it? Terrible thing there. Hope everything worked out for the best. Pleased to meet you, anyway. I'm the Doctor.” He paused then, holding out his hand for her to take.

She gave him a taught smile, placing her small fingers in his hand for a short but firm handshake. The Doctor never lost sight of her eyes, searching for something inside of her mind. He had a hunch.

“Say,” He started speaking. “You haven't happened to run across my wife anywhere, have you? Poor thing, terrible sense of direction. Always losing her.”

“Your wife?” the Madam rose a pencil thin eyebrow. “You've married now, have you?”

“More or less.” The Doctor lied, shrugging his shoulders. It was a lie, or a cover, or whatever it was called used between them so often at this point it just seemed he first thing to come from his mouth when explaining who Jess was. It left an odd feeling in his chest for a moment, though. His wife. He couldn't imagine.

He gave a shiver, then looped his arm around Madam Cruisa's arm and started leading her out of the room as he continued to speak. He asked her about Midnight, what had happened after that, and apologized genuinely for the fallout she had taken from his actions. He noticed that she seemed very much less enthusiastic about forgiving him than he'd hoped she'd be.

By the time they'd arrived at the service elevator's doors, the Doctor had brought the conversation back around to Jess.

“You wouldn't mind if I checked with security?” He asked, looking around with a confused expression. “I'm sure they could spot her on the cameras and tell me where she's gotten up to.”

The Madam's lips tightened into at thin line, her voice terse. “I'm sure they might, unfortunately, our security cameras have been shut down for maintenance in the hotel today.”

“Oh, that's too bad.” He frowned, tapping his finger against his chin before giving the woman a bright grin once more. “You don't mind if I wander around myself, do you? Possibly she's lost herself wandering around the corridors. Might find her if I look.”

Madam Cruisa paused for a moment, considering. “Suit yourself.” She finally spoke, voice just as terse as before. “Just don't go bothering the guests. Thank you.”

Before he could say anything more, she had stepped into the just opened doors of the elevator and closed them behind her. The Doctor watched as the light showed the elevator rising and stopping at the Fifth floor.

The Doctor hummed and walked off in the other direction. His Sonic buzzed softly at the lock of a door, and he slipped behind it.

The hallway was dark, very dimly lit, but the Doctor slipped up the stairs as if he knew exactly where the next one was. Or, more likely, as if he could see in the dark. His feet barely made a noise as he tip toed up the steps, flight by flight.

He stopped when he reached a floor marked by a big number 5. The fifth floor, where he'd sent Jess. He had expected to see her already, but she hadn't come back and he was beginning to worry, then he could sense that Madam Cruisa knew something about her, though he didn't make contact with her enough to be able to tell what had happened.

He glanced both directions before slipping out into the hallway. It looked just like all the other floors, room after room. He tried a door. Surprisingly, it opened rather easily. And the room behind was completely bare. The next room and even the next and the one after that, were all the same. Empty. Carpet pulled up, wallpaper ripped off the walls.

He stopped at each door, going from side to side, checking each and every room, and he couldn't quite explain why, but with each empty room he found he started to get more and more afraid for Jess. Just where was she, anyway?

An annoying buzzing in the Doctor's pocket stopped him before he darted into the next room. He fished out the source of the bother and realized that Jess's phone had been in his pocket.

“Now when did this get there?” He wondered, then slid it open and pressed the big green button. “Hello?”

“Doctor?” Amy's concerned voice flooded his ear, tinted with confusion. “Wait...why are you answering Jess's phone?”

“Uh....” The Doctor wavered, looking around but unable to come up with a good explanation. He ended up just telling her the truth “The phone was in my pocket.”

“Well, where's Jess.” Amy sounded annoyed and the Doctor frowned.

“I'm....not exactly sure....”

“What do you mean “Not exactly sure” Doctor, you two are supposed to be in the hotel room. Together....oh gods....” The Doctor could almost hear the wheels in her head turning as she figured it out. He was a little disappointed. She should have known...really. “Where are you?”

“A hotel.” The Doctor responded, glancing up just in time to notice the footsteps coming ever closer down the hall. He ducked into the room he'd just been about to go in and shut the door behind him.

“Not...our hotel, though?”

“Of course not.” The Doctor huffed. “I'm at the Hotel Du'Lamone. There's something strange going on here. Jess and I are investigating.”

“Alright. Rory and I will be there soon.”

“No!” The Doctor covered his mouth quickly, looking at the door in case someone had heard him. The footsteps seemed to have passed by the door with no incident and he let out a breath and quickly finished speaking. “You and Rory relax. Jess and I can handle this. I'll just find her, we'll fix the computers, and head back to the hotel.”

“Doctor.” Rory had snatched the phone from Amy and was now speaking into it. “You know we aren't going to be able to relax until we know you guys aren't out getting yourselves arrested or killed.”

The Doctor sighed. “Alright, but be careful.”

“Always.” The Doctor could hear Amy smiling into the phone and then the call ended.

He shoved the phone back into his pocket with a frown. He needed to find Jess before Amy and Rory got there, or Amy would probably hit him. Again.

 


	43. Chapter Forty Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another chapter, another day off. We're almost to the big climax of this adventure, I bet you can't wait. I've got all day off tomorrow, though and I'm hoping to have it up! I've been having this idea for a short one shot though, so I'm thinking that I might try tapping that out if I can't get the next bit of this fic. maybe I'll be able to get both!
> 
> So anyway, The Doctor knows what's up, and it looks like he's got a plan?

The Doctor slipped around the corner moments before the group of heavily armed guards walked out of a room. He held his breath, rather dramatically since he could have simply activated his respiratory bypass system and not needed to breath. Still, it was more dramatic, more human, to press his back against the wall with a hand over his mouth while his hearts thumped in his ears and he hoped he wouldn't get caught.

The four guards, human in their appearance, had come out of a room just down a hall from where the Doctor had just been looking. He heard the distinctive click of a lock and waited until the sounds of footsteps disappeared before darting out and racing right to the door they had just come out of.

His Sonic Screwdriver in hand, he pointed it at the door and waited for the lock to click open. The door almost fell from under him in his haste to push it open. He fell forwards into the room, throwing the door shut behind him and catching himself before he crashed face first onto the floor. He flailed, but stayed standing and threw his arms around to balance himself.

Pulling himself back and steadying himself, he took a glance around the room. It was almost pitch black except for the steady flicker of lights lining the walls of the room. He shoved his hand into his pocket and fished around until his fingers touched the shaft of a torch. He pulled it out with a gleeful smile and flicked it on, flinching when the light hit him right in the face.

“Alright.” He said, facing the light at the floor while he blinked the spots from his eyes. “Let's see what they're hiding in here.”

He pointed the torch at the wall, where the largest collection of little lights was. A computer, some sort of processor, he noted first off. He gave a curious hum and walked over to it, immediately tapping buttons. The pictures that popped up on the screen made no sense to him. This was not a language, this was...this was madness.

“What in the world have they got here....” He chewed his lip, pulled his glasses from his pocket and perched them on his nose, balanced the torch between his jaw and shoulder, and started tapping away at the computer once more.

It took about fifteen minutes for him to break the strange code and learn the language used for the processing. He frowned.

“Oh...” He let out a soft hum, taking the torch in his hand once more. “This...this doesn't look good at all.”

He pointed the torch at the bottom of the computer, finding what he thought he'd find. A set of wires leading out of the computer and along the wall. He followed these, stepping slowly around the dark room until he came face to face with a harness, in which sat a blonde woman. The Doctor frowned.

“Memories. Living memories.” His voice was laced with sadness, disappointment. “A computer processed through the brains of living beings...This is just...wrong.”

He moved on, following the wires, from one to the next, each person, until his eyes came to rest on the last face attached to the device. He'd forgotten he could cry until he felt the tears sting in his eyes.

“Oh, Jess...” His trembling fingers brushed along her pale cheek. She was cold, still as a corpse. “I'm so sorry.”

He stepped away from her, dropping the torch light from her face. This could not be, this just couldn't happen. He would find a way to fix this. He would save her. He just had to.

The Doctor dashed back to the computer module and started tapping at the screen once more, shifting quickly through files. Now, he could understand what they were saying, he navigated through the plans, but he could not find what he was looking for. There seemed to be no way to release the minds from the computer.

A phone rang in his pocket, distracting and infuriating him. He answered it in a huff. “What?!”

“Doctor.” Amy sounded shocked at the way he answered, and her voice immediately calmed him. “We're here. Where are you?”

“Stay where you're at.” the Doctor responded, fingers blazing over the keyboard with the phone pressed against his shoulder. “It's not safe. Just...just stay where you're at. Blend in, wait for me. And whatever you do...just...just stay away from the computers.”

“But...Doctor...” Amy sounded confused, almost worried. The Doctor could picture her looking at the nearest computer device warily. “This entire place is automated. This whole street, it's all connected by one giant computer...”

“I know.” The Doctor sighed, slamming his hands against the console. “It's taken Jess.”

“Taken Jess?” Amy hissed. “Doctor, what are you talking about?”

“Just stay where you are.” the Doctor responded. “I'll meet you there and explain it all, but we don't have much time. Wait...where exactly are you?”

He hung up the phone and shoved it back in his pocket, spinning on his heels. He stopped by Jess's harness once more and pointed the light at her face.

“I'll get you out of there.” He told her. “I promise. You just wait and see. It's my turn to save you.” He smiled dumbly, with a sadness in his eyes that didn't match his features, and he left.

Amy and Rory sat in the lounge downstairs. They had ordered drinks and were sitting at a small table in the corner, talking among themselves and smiling. Looking inconspicuous and trying to blend in, just as the Doctor has told them.

He sat down at their table with them, spinning his chair around and sitting in it backwards, resting his arms on the backrest and dropping his chin down onto his arms.

“Doctor?” Amy's face immediately looked concerned. She had made a sweep of the room. “Where's Jess?”

“In the computer.” The Doctor responded.

“What does that mean?” Rory snapped, looking at the Doctor with his usual expression of confusion and worry.

The Doctor sighed, taking a deep breath. “Someone, and I think I know who, has created a computer to run this entire section of the city. It's a computer that runs at maximum efficiency, outputting more power and data than any computer ever created, with the processing speed and power unlike anything the human race has ever known. Well, they've known it they just haven't understood it yet, well, until now. Apparently. It's all sort of confusing and wobbly..”

“Doctor.” Amy stopped his rambling. “The point?”

“Ah...” He gave an embarrassed smile that turned into a dark frown, one that Amy knew meant trouble. “The computer is run through the brains of living beings. It traps them, forces them into status and sends all the information through their brains like a giant motherboard.”

“And Jess....is one of those people?” Rory asked, voice barely above a whisper.

The Doctor nodded. “She's strapped into a machine on the fifth floor.”

“And you couldn't get her out?” Amy hissed, eyes narrowing at the Doctor.

His hearts clenched as the feeling of guilt flooded through him. He tried not to let it show in his voice and his words came out rather aloof, with a hint of finality.

“There's no way to get her out. The computer doesn't have a release mechanism, and if I try to take her out manually, it could fry her brain and kill her immediately.”

There was a long silence between them in which Amy picked up her glass, swirled the contents, and then drained the glass. She sat it down with a soft clink on the wooden table. “Alright. What do we do?”

The Doctor looked at her apologetically, his wide eyes giving her a puppy dog stare. “I've got to find Madam Cruisa. She's the woman in charge of this facility. She's more than likely the one who'se behind this project. I don't doubt that she's got computers like this set up in every district of the city.”

“So, we need to find this woman and....what exactly?” Rory asked.

The Doctor stood up, pushed the chair away, and looked down at the two of them dramatically as he straightened his bow tie. “I'm going to convince her to turn her computers off.”

Amy nodded, as if this were exactly what was going to happen. Usually it was. The Doctor talked and the world got better. Well, usually it got worse first, but she wouldn't dwell on that because it did always get better. The Doctor could turn whole armies away with just his words. She'd seen it. She had no doubt that he could talk to this Madam Cruisa and everything would be set right again. Especially with the look in his eyes and she and Rory followed him out of the lounge. She had never seen him look so determined, so full of fire.

They followed the Doctor right out into the main lobby of the hotel, almost bumping into him when he stopped dead in his tracks.

“How are we going to find her, Doctor? She could be anywhere in the city.” Rory asked.

The Doctor turned, pulling his Sonic from his pocket once more. “She was in this building half an hour ago. I spoke to her before I found...” He paused for only a second. “The computer. She's still nearby.”

Without any further explanation, the Doctor pointed the Sonic into the air and set it off. The green light buzzed and almost immediately the fire alarms wailed in the building, bright red lights screaming above their heads. People panicked, but the Doctor stood still with the Sonic in hand as crowds evacuated and ran past him.

He pocketed the Sonic once more as the alarm turned off, that wasn't his doing. Almost immediately, four guards appeared around them.

“Let's get past the formalities, gentlemen.” The Doctor turned and grinned at the armed men. “My name is the Doctor, and I demand to see your boss.”

The guards looked between each other, confused, curious, unsure. The Doctor smiled, glancing back at Amy and Rory.

“Trust me, boys, she'll want to see me to.” He egged them.

One of the men dropped his gun, pressed a button on his earpiece, and spoke softly, too softly for the others to hear. Seconds later, he gave a nod. The other three men jumped on them. They were grabbed, handcuffed, and herded into a line.

Amy and Rory frowned, confused, worried. The Doctor gave a manic, cocky grin. The guards walked them through the hotel, to a service elevator.

 


	44. Chapter Forty Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, It's up to the Doctor and Amy to save the day! Amy did her part, and we'll see how that turned out. But don't worry, you'll figure out what the Doctor had been up to in the next chapter. woot woot. 
> 
> and this next adventure that's about to happen. Yeah, it's going to be a doozy and I hope that you guys like it!

Madam Cruisa's office was exactly what the Doctor had expected it to be like. On the top floor of the hotel, the corner office with floor to ceiling windows looking down at the city below. Stainless steel furniture in odd, futuristic shapes. Everything looked so fancy, so uncomfortable.

The woman sat behind her desk, fingers laced together and a cruel smile on her face. The Doctor strode into the room like he belonged there, pulling his arm out of the guard's grasp and falling down into one of the egg shaped chairs behind the desk. He shifted and made himself comfortable, aware of but ignoring the fact that Amy and Rory nearly fell on their faces as they were pushed into the room by the guards.

“Well, Doctor.” Madam Cruisa's polite smile didn't fool him. He already had everything figured out anyway. And he knew that she knew it. “Have you found that wife of yours yet?”

“Wife?” Amy pulled herself upright, glared at the guard as he let her go, and walked around to stand beside the Doctor's chair. “What wife?”

Madam Cruisa rose an eyebrow at the Doctor, who only kept his aloof grin on his face. “Well, I guess the surprise is ruined then.”

“What surprise?” Amy's voice sounded uncertain and the Doctor turned to look at her. She immediately recognized the expression on his face. Play Along. “Wait...Did you and Jess? Oh my god, you did!”

The Doctor turned back to Madam Cruisa, proud of Amy's quick acting. “We hadn't told them yet we'd eloped. It was going to be a surprise tonight at dinner.”

“Well.” The woman's lips tightened into a thin line. “That never answered my question. Have you found her?”

“Oh yes.” The Doctor relished in the fear in her eyes when he said this. “She's sitting in a room a few floors below us with a group of other hostages having her brain fried by a computer running through it.”

“Well, that is a pity.” Madam Cruisa had stood at this point, her fingers trembling against the stainless steel of her desk.

“What are you trying to accomplish?” The Doctor asked, folding his arms over his chest. His apparent lack of anger or fear or threats seemed to confuse the Madam. She didn't seem to know how to react when he asked her this question.

“Well, isn't it obvious?” she asked him.

“Not if he's got to ask, no.” Rory spoke up. He'd not bothered to shake the guard off him until just that moment and he stood near the door.

Madam Cruisa shot her glare at Rory. He didn't falter and the Doctor smiled. He could be so proud of his friends for just the simplest things sometimes. When she spoke again, it was in a strained, stiff voice.

“I'm making history.” She told them, straightening up and pulling the wrinkles out of her jacket top. She turned around and walked to the window, arms crossed over her chest as she looked out at it. “Look out there. Everything you can see from this floor is run by the computer in that room. It's simply amazing. The power of the living brain holds more processing power than any computer ever could, and I've harnessed that and turned it into a resource.”

“You've killed people.” The Doctor told her, standing up from his chair. He glanced at Amy and gave her the softest of nods as he walked over to the Madam. “Why? You don't seem like the kind of woman who would allow people to die just for the sake of a computer. It's inhumane...it's...it's evil.”

“I didn't used to be.” She turned and gave him a stiff nod, then looked back out through the glass. As she continued to speak, to tell the Doctor exactly what had happened, why she had become who she is. That it was all his fault. He kept her eyes on him.

Amy took the Doctor's place in the seat, leaning against the desk innocently. Rory had started doing something, neither the Doctor nor Amy noticed what. Simply that the guards were looking at Rory for a moment, allowing Amy to snatch a small remote lying beside the computer. She'd seen the Doctor eyeing it for quite a while and the look he'd given her, she knew that it was what he wanted her to take.

Slipping it into her pocket, she leaned back in the chair just in time to have Madam Cruisa spin around in a huff from the window and demand that the guards throw them all in the dungeon.

From that moment, it took only a few seconds for Amy to jump out of the seat, slam her elbow into the nearest guard, and dart for the door.

“Amy!” The Doctor yelled for her and she turned, just in time to reach out and grab the Sonic as he threw it to her. “574! Hurry!”

Rory jumped at the guard going for Amy and he and the Doctor held them off, allowing time for Amy to dash out of the room, remote in one pocket and Sonic Screwdriver in her hand. She had no idea what to do, but at least she knew where to go.

Glancing behind her, she didn't see any guards following her, but she didn't have time to wait for an elevator. She skidded into the stairwell and jumped down them two or three at a time until the floor with the giant 5 appeared.

She peeked through the door first to make sure the way was clear, and then strode into the hallway. The entire floor seemed to be empty aside from a few staff members who seemed to be patrolling the halls. Amy hid from them, but they didn't seem to be looking for her. She could only assume the Doctor and Rory were keeping that evil woman preoccupied enough that she hadn't sent out an alert.

She quickly found her way right to the room she was looking for. 574, the only locked door in the entire floor. Jess must be behind the door, she thought, and suddenly she was just really angry. The Doctor had said people had died from being hooked up to this computer. The Doctor wouldn't let Jess die, and neither would Amy. They were friends. Jess had saved all of them so many times. Now, Amy had a chance to return the favor.

She pointed the Sonic at the door, just the way the Doctor had showed her before, and the lock popped open. She darted into the room and shut the door before anyone noticed.

It was pitch black inside the room, aside from little lights dotted around the room. She felt for a light switch, but found nothing.

“Oh, come on.” She hissed in frustration, and pulled her phone from her pocket. It had a light on it and she turned it on, scanning the room.

She gasped at what she found, all the people in seats, hooked up to a machine. Jess, in the seat closest to her, sitting peacefully. Amy walked closer, looked her in the face, reached out and touched her cold cheek. She pulled her hand back as anger filled through her again.

She spun on her heels and walked to the main control unit, the large computer at the far end of the room. She pressed some buttons and the screen lit up, but nothing on it made sense. She couldn't understand any of it, no matter how many random buttons she pushed.

She tried pointing the Sonic at it, but nothing happened. She slammed her hands down on the console. “I don't even know what to do!”

It took only a few seconds, and then the screen changed on its own. Amy blinked at it. Where just moments before, all she'd seen was a jumbled mess of symbols and shapes that made no sense, she saw one string of words repeated over and over again in a matrix formation. 'Press the big green button'

Amy flashed the light over the entire console until she saw it, a big green button at the top corner of the machine. She smashed it, looking around the room. A small click resounded through the silence and a hatch on the side of the machine opened up. Amy inspected it, finding a small opening, like a usb port.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” She asked, hoping that if she kept speaking out loud, the computer would keep helping her. She looked at the computer screen, but it had returned to the mass of jumbled nonsense. She sighed, pulling out the remote she'd gotten off the desk.

She looked at it, pressed its buttons, nothing happened until her finger ran across a slide and the remote fell open. A cap seemed to come off it, and there it was. A plug. Amy grinned, letting out a victorious noise as she hastened to plug the device into the computer.

It took a few attempts, holding the light with one hand while trying to get the plug into the slot in the right spot. She grinned once more when it went in properly and jumped back up, going back to the screen. Nothing happened for a moment, and then suddenly a dialogue box popped up.

A loading bar started going and Amy chewed her lip, wondering how long it would take. She glanced at the door, then at Jess, then back at the door. She knew she wouldn't have much more time.

It all happened at once. An alarm started to blare and a bright red light started to flash in the room. All the lights on the computer started to flash, the screen went blue. A series of circles appeared on the screen, some kind of strange writing Amy didn't understand. She recognized it, though. It was Gallifreyan. She'd seen it a few times in the TARDIS.

Twelve people gasped, all at once, and their eyes opened. Jess yanked the helmet off her head and jumped out of the seat. The others woke up in various states of unrest, falling out of the chair, screaming, confused.

Amy rushed to Jess and wrapped her in a hug. “Oh, thank gods, you're alright!”

“What about the others?” Jess asked, putting her hand to her head.

“We're all just fine.” A familiar voice called and a sudden light flooded the room. The door burst open and the Doctor leaned in the doorway, grinning at Jess and Amy. Rory stepped in behind him, scooping Amy into his arms.

Jess looked at the Doctor and smiled. He returned it, eyes darting to the floor, then back up to her as his lips curled into a grin.

 


	45. Chapter Forty Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, this is just some fluff and filler. Things are about to happen. obviously. But this next adventure is going to be fun. :D quite, actually. I think. I hope. 
> 
> I haven't had a chance to write lately because Ive been working nonstop. I'll try to get another chapter up by the end of the week tho.

“So what are they going to do with Madam Cruisa, now?” Amy asked, leaning against the railing of the TARDIS with Rory's arm wrapped around her.

The Doctor spun around the console, setting dials and spinning things, he seemed to be trying to plot their next course with no idea as of where to go. He spoke without looking up from the screen. “They'll be sending her to prison. She won't be seeing the light of day for a very long time.”

“And the people?” Rory asked. “The ones in the computer. I saw them all being put in a van, where were they going?”

“Ambulance.” Jess responded. “They were being taken to the hospital to make sure that they were okay before being taken back to their homes. The company is giving them all compensation for what's happened. They asked me to come along, but I'm alright.”

Jess could feel the Doctor's eyes on her when she said that, his brow wrinkling in worry. She knew he didn't believe her, but she looked at him and smiled softly. “Thanks to the Doctor, and you Amy, I'm just fine.”

“What was it like?” Amy asked, “Being inside the computer.”

“Dark.” Jess pulled her knees up to her, sitting in the white jump seat. She rested her chin on her knees. “And hot. It felt like every cell in my body was burning all at once. It was almost unbearable, but I could hear them all. The others, screaming. It's because of what I am that I didn't give in. Otherwise, I'd have been useless.”

“It was you, in the computer.” Amy suddenly realized. “When I didn't know what to do and the instructions just showed up on the screen. That was you.”

Jess nodded. “It took a lot of effort, but yeah.”

“Alot?” The Doctor laughed. “It was impossible.”

“What did I tell you about that word?” Jess asked, shooting the Doctor a playful glare.

He responded with a playful, admonished smile, fiddling with one of the dials on the console. Jess could have sworn he was almost blushing.

“So, where to next?” She asked, changing the subject suddenly. Things were wrapped up here, and it was about time for the next adventure. They hadn't even gone into the Time Vortex yet.

“Home.” Amy responded, making the others look at her with confused expressions. She smiled. “It's been so long since I've just been home.”

The Doctor nodded. “Home it is, then.”

Jess watched as he twisted a dial, flipped a lever, and the TARDIS lurched into action. Mere moments later, he room stopped trembling and the TARDIS's whirring faded into nothingness.

Amy was the first out the door, into the back yard of her and Rory's house. Rory followed, but the Doctor hesitated. Jess stood up and walked to him, tugging on his sleeve.

He looked up from the console and met her eyes, giving her a smile. “Hello.”

“Hey.” She almost giggled, but her smile faded into a more serious expression. “Thanks..” She whispered. “You saved my life.”

“You've saved mine.” The Doctor responded. “Plenty of times.”

“You didn't have to save mine.”

“And you didn't have to save mine.”

“Yeah.” Jess stepped away and grinned. “Yeah, I did.”

“Why?” The Doctor followed her when she turned her back to him and walked down the steps. He stopped at the top, calling to her before she opened the door. “Why did you have to?”

Jess turned and gave him a grin. “Shouldn't that be obvious, Doctor?” She laughed and stepped out of the TARDIS, leaving behind the confused Doctor.

“No, acutally.” He spoke to no one. “It isn't.”

Jess followed Amy and Rory into their house, falling down onto their couch. Rory had already started tea and Jess helped herself to a cup before the Doctor had finally met them in the house. Jess looked anywhere but into his eyes and the entire time they sat in the living room, she could feel his eyes on her. She knew that Amy and Rory sensed something was up as well.

They had been ushered off sooner than they normally would have spent before leaving the Ponds to their boring, ordinary life. The Doctor complained, even as they stepped back into the TARDIS, that he couldn't fathom why they would want to go back to boring jobs and doing time in the right order. Jess just laughed and shut the door, jumping to the console.

“Where should we go then, Doctor?” Jess asked, spinning a little wobbly thing on the panel. “Since you don't like doing time in the right order.”

He grinned at her, taking the steps two at a time. He stopped right in front of her, reaching just behind her to flip a switch. “I was thinking somewhere warm.”

“The deserts of Paradum?” Jess offered, dancing around him and flipping a lever.

The Doctor spun around the console, meeting her on the other side as both of them flipped switches and set controls. He stopped in front of her and grinned. “I was thinking Egypt.”

“Brilliant.” Jess's grin matched his, and both of their hands landed on the big lever, fingers touching.

Jess paused, her smile softening as she looked up into the Doctor's eyes. He shifted on his feet as he returned the look, fingers twitching on the control. He wanted to flip the switch, but he wasn't ready to be thrown out of the moment that he'd found himself stuck in now.

“I hope you know.” He muttered softly, his fingers inching over to close over hers on the handle. He licked his lips, shifting on his feet. “That you are very important...to me, I mean.”

“Yeah?” Jess laughed, nervousness evident in her voice. She forced herself to meet his eyes.

He nodded. “You said you didn't matter, but you do.”

Jess nodded, unsure what to say to that. She only knew that things would change when the Master finally found them. Jess licked her lips, unaware of the way the Doctor's eyes lingered there as she did. His fingers tightened around hers.

“Jess, please look at me?” He coaxed. “This is important.”

She obeyed, chewing her lip, surprised to find how close he was now. Mere inches away. She realized just how easy it would be to lean up and press their lips together, but she refrained. He smiled.

“I truly mean it. You matter.”

“Alright....” Jess bit her lip and leaned away in an attempt to resist the urge to fall into him. “I believe you. I matter. Now, what about Egypt?”

“Egypt.” The goofy grin returned to the Doctor's face and the two of them, together, slammed down the final lever and sent the TARDIS careening into the time vortex. The shock of it sent the two of them flying into each other. The Doctor grabbed Jess, keeping her from falling to the ground, his hand still holding tight onto the control panel until the machine stopped.

Only, the TARDIS didn't stop. The console exploded on the opposite side from them and sparks began to fly. The alarm began to blare and the Doctor and Jess both gave startled looks. Jess steadied herself, pulling from the Doctor's arms to start checking monitors and screens.

“What the hell is going on?!” She yelled over the sound of the cloister bell.

“She's locked on to something she doesn't like!” The Doctor responded, grabbing the screen and slamming some buttons, pointing his Sonic at the console to no avail.

The ship rocked once more, sending them both to the ground. Jess hit the railing and grabbed hold, catching the screwdriver as it slid across the floor.

“She's trying to land us. Something's gone wrong! Hold on tight!” He called out, trying to get himself back to the controls. He slipped, pulled himself back up, and then started working the controls, trying to get her to land safely.

Jess kept a tight grip on the panel, watching the Doctor work his magic until the TARDIS had finally landed and the warning bell stopped. The Doctor gave a deep sigh of relief, falling back into the jump seat to catch his breath.

Jess stood up. “Is she alright, Doctor?”

He stood, helping her back to her feet. Both of them looked over the control panel, though Jess let the Doctor investigate it himself and mostly just watched.

“There's some pretty bad damage in here. Looks like I'll need to make some repairs before we head out again. May take a few days.” He told her.

“And where exactly are we?” She asked, grabbing the montior. It showed her nothing.

“Why don't we go and see, eh?” The Doctor gave her his childish, excited grin.

Both of them raced to the door and threw it open. Jess stepped out, followed by the Doctor, to find themselves in a familiar place.

“It's London.” Jess announced, looking out at the bay, towards the ferris wheel standing there. “I'd say early spring? April, possibly?” She turned to the Doctor to see if he thought she was correct.

“March, I think.” He corrected, though he smiled at her. “But you were pretty close. That's very good.”

“Thanks.” She grinned. “I do my best.”

He laughed, then looked back up, glancing around. “Can you tell what year it is?”

Jess glanced around, frowning. “I've got no idea.”

“Neither do I.” The Doctor gave her a goofy grin, offering his arm out to her. “Why don't we look around and see what we can find. There's got to be some reason the TARDIS landed us off here.”

“My pleasure, Doctor.” Jess grinned, slipping her arm into his and letting him lead her down the street.

He began to talk animatedly about something, but Jess wasn't paying much attention. They'd passed a light post with posters pinned to it, and Jess had sought out the date on one. She wondered if the Doctor had noticed as well. It was March, 2005. The day he first met Rose.

 


	46. Chapter Forty Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, it's been much...much too long since I've updated. I'm sorry! I've been super busy with work, and spending time with my new boyfriend, and I'm working on an original novel that I plan to try and get published. BUT I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN THIS FIC! I promise, I'm going to try to get out as many chapters as I can as often as I can because I still adore this story, and I haven't finished telling it. 
> 
> But anyway, let's see what happens when Jess meets...someone from the past :D

The Doctor browsed a shelf in the bookstore they'd found themselves in a few hours after having landed.

Jess frowned, leaning against the shelf beside him. “Are we really going to spend all our time in a bookstore?” She asked him.

The Doctor barely glanced up over his shoulder. “Why not? Books are amazing.”

“Best weapons in the universe.” Jess rolled her eyes as she spouted off the phrase and the Doctor grinned.

He pulled a book off the shelf and opened it up, flipping through the pages. “Plot's a little thin in this one.”

Jess glared at him, then rested her head against the shelf with a small thump, chewing on her lip. At least she wouldn't run into her mother in a bookstore, she was sure. Her mother had never been the kind for books, before or after she met the Doctor.

“You don't have to stay by my side, you know.” The Doctor flipped open three more books and skimmed through them.

“What else am I supposed to do then?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He glanced at her over the top of his glasses. “I'm sure there's a shop around here you'd like. Shoes or something.”

“I could do with a few new pairs.” She nodded thoughtfully, then looked back down at him with a playful grin. “Except I'm broke.”

The Doctor looked back up at her again, smiling. “So am I.”

“Well, who's paying for lunch then, because I'm starved.”

The Doctor put his book away and frowned, looking up at Jess. Then a thought struck him and he grinned, shoving his hand into his pocket to remove a card. “Here, I've got this on me.”

“And this is?” Jess held up the little card. It would have looked like a credit card, except it had no information written on it.

“Just...swipe it through the machine.” He waved his hands around and then went back to his book search.

Jess shook her head and gave a sigh before pushing away from the shelf and leaving the Doctor behind. She didn't bother to ask if he wanted anything. She would bring him back some chips anyways. If he didn't eat them, she would have a second share for herself.

She smiled as she turned a street corner. This was a part of the neighborhood she remembered, though things were just a little different. Everything was older, for one. Some of the shops were different. There was one place, an old shop that her mum had always told her about. The shop had closed before she had ever been born, but her mum told her that it existed in both universes.

She searched for it, following the mostly familiar path down the streets, turning at the blue sign (in her universe, it had been red) She stopped at the light and let the traffic pass. There had been a bench sitting nearby, in this universe there was none.

As a small crowd gathered, waiting for the light to turn so they could cross the street, Jess's phone rang.

“Hello?” She fished it out of her pocket and answered it upside down. She scrunched up her face and turned the phone proper before saying hello again.

“Ah, yes. Jess. Good. Thought I might accidentally be calling the Prime Minister of Proo.”

“Doctor, what do you want?” She asked, trying to stifle her laughter.

“I had to go back to the TARDIS, yeah.” He told her, and she could hear the TARDIS in the background. “Have you gotten the chips yet?”

“No.” She crossed her free arm over her chest, watching the traffic go by. A small crowd had gathered on the other side of the street as well, and she found herself looking at one particular man. “Why?”

“Ah, no reason.” The Doctor muttered, it sounded like he had his Sonic between his teeth. The next thing he said was much more clear. “Take all the time you need, yeah. I'm going to be here for a while. I found something interesting.”

“Interesting?” Jess questioned, watching the odd man across the street. He stared at her in return, but then looked back down at the device in his hand. It wasn't a phone, but it almost looked like one.

“Ah, I'll explain it all when you get back. It's really very....sciency.” She could hear the excitement in his voice. The light finally changed and the crowd began to walk.

“Alright. Well, I'm almost at the shop, so I'm going to hang up.” She said, stepping into the road. The strange man walked right at her, and she almost thought about keeping the Doctor on the phone a little longer, at least until she'd walked past him. For safety reasons. Something told her to hang up, however, and she did. Right in the middle of one of the Doctor's sentences.

Her phone slipped back in her pocket as the man met her in the middle of the road. She gasped, but wasn't surprised, when he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to the sidewalk.

“Oi, what do you think you're doing?” She asked, glaring at him. He was tall, older, kind of gangly and awkward looking, but he did have some pretty blue eyes.

“Hello.” He gave her a grin, pointed his machine at her, and pushed a button. She suddenly recognized it.

“Doctor?” She gaped, and he returned the confused expression.

“How do you know who I am?” He asked, stepping back.

Jess sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Well, this isn't how I had hoped to spend the day.”

“And how had you hoped to spend the day?” He asked, circling her and adjusting his device while it continued to let out clicks and beeps.

“Well, I was going to get chips...” Why was she even telling him this, she wondered. This was not her Doctor, either of her Doctors. This Doctor was before her Doctor, and she should not be talking to him. Her Doctor would be furious if she knew she was talking to past him.

“Chips.” He grinned wide. “Chips sounds good. We can go get some chips and you can explain to me why you're giving off enough energy to disrupt my scanner.”

Jess groaned, not even having time to protest as the Doctor grabbed her by the wrist once more and pulled her across the lane of traffic, moments after the light turned and the cars honked at them before driving past.

“Oi, don't kill me!” Jess yelled at him, making him shoot her another grin.

He pulled her along until they came to the chips shop she'd been planning on going to in the first place. Well, at least there was that. He waited until she ordered, shifting on her feet and glancing behind her at him nervously. She knew she had to be careful here.

When she walked back, with her plate of fries and her soda, the Doctor pulled out a chair for her. She smiled politely and sat, watching as he spun his own chair around backwards and sat in it like he was some bad boy from an 80s movie. She almost wanted to laugh.

“So, what's your name?” He asked her.

“What's yours?” She responded.

“I'm the Doctor.” He answered.

“That's not your real name.” She rose her eyebrows, shoving a chip in her mouth.

“It's what I'm called.” He snapped, “I think you know that already, and I'd like to know how.”

She leaned forward. “I can't tell you that.”

“Why not?” He sounded annoyed already. This Doctor definitely had a much shorter temper than the one she knew now. She doubted that she'd get along with this Doctor very much.

“Orders.” She lied.

“From who?”

“From you.” This would give him the information he needed to figure out what was going on. She continued to eat her chips in silence while she watched the thoughts process through his mind. She could pick out his thoughts and she knew where he was going. She smiled when his eyes lit up with the realization.

“You know one of my future selves, then.” He told her, looking at her expression to know if she was telling the truth. “You travel with him, well, me.”

Jess nodded. “Bingo, Jimmy Boy.” She ate another chip, slapping his hand away when he reached out to take one. “Hey, get your own.”

He shot her a glare, but it was playful and harmless. “Alright then. If you're with future me, then that means I'm around here somewhere too.”

“Back in the TARDIS. You called and told me to take my time, said you'd be busy with something for a while.” She answered.

“And what are you doing here? I never go where I've been before.” He leaned back. “Well, at least not the same day.”

Jess shrugged. “It was the TARDIS, not us. We were headed somewhere else, and the TARDIS landed us here. You, the future you, isn't aware of what day it is.”

“Something special about this day?” The Doctor asked.

Jess couldn't help but to chuckle. “Today is the most important day of your life, Doctor.”

 


	47. Chapter Forty Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose has joined the 9th Doctor on an adventure, set on making sure that he meets Rose - else the entire future change dramatically. But will this chance encounter change things for her own future? One thing is for sure, her Doctor is going to have something to say about this...

The Doctor stared at Jess, watching as she examined the device he'd been scanning around with. Her container of chips sat, empty, at the edge of the table. She had the device taken apart and examined one of the more intricate parts of it.

“Well, I see why I'm disrupting your signal.” She told him. “You've got it set to scan for retrospectrum particles. That's sort of counterproductive, don't you think? Any time disruption is going to cause the scanner to malfunction.”

“You seem to know a lot about time travel.” He said it as a question.

Jess just smiled and looked up at him. “As long as I've been traveling with you, I'd be stupid if I didn't learn a thing or two.”

The Doctor chuckled and took the gizmo from her, fitting it back together carefully – after making the corrections she'd suggested he make. He should have thought of that in the first place, really. Silly him.

Jess reached over and grabbed the last of the chips, cold now, and shoved it into her mouth as she watched in silence while the Doctor fixed the device. Her thoughts wandered, to this new Doctor. Well, old Doctor. This was the Doctor before she knew him. Yet he was still so much the same. She could see it in his eyes.

“Are you even listening to me?” The Doctor's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she shook her head.

“What?”

“Just like you humans, never paying attention.” He snapped.

“Good to see some things don't change.” Jess responded sarcastically.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. What did you say?” She smiled sweetly at the Doctor.

He stared at her for a while before the smile broke out on his face once more. “I asked if you wanted to come with me. Help me investigate. Might be nice to have an extra pair of eyes.”

Jess bit her lip. It wouldn't hurt, would it? Just until the Doctor got on the right track. Just until he found Rose. This was a very important event, and if things didn't happen just the right way, then the future of two entire universes would change. Her Doctor would forgive her, wouldn't she?

“Well?” He looked at her expectantly with his familiar blue eyes.

“Oh, alright. I'll help you out for a little while.” She found herself smiling along with him, even as he pulled her up from the seat and dragged her out of the shop.

“Where are we going?” She asked, finding her footing and jogging with him down the street, in whatever direction.

“Well, if this thing is fixed properly, we're about to know.” He told her. “I've been tracking a disturbance these past few days. Something isn't quite right.”

“What kind of disturbance?” Jess asked, skidding to a halt in a rather deserted part of the town. They stepped into the privacy of a small ally and the Doctor set the device whirring, looking at the readouts on the screen. It seemed to be working.

“I was tracking a signal. Alien signal. Not sure what it's coming from just yet.” He told her, twisting a dial.

“How long have you been tracking it?” Jess asked.

The Doctor glanced at her, fiddled with the dials a bit more, and answered. “I've been working on it for a few hours. Located it to somewhere around this district, but I can't seem to find the source.”

“And do you know the origin?” She asked once more. “Who is transmitting the signal?”

The Doctor looked like he would roll his eyes at her, but he didn't. “Well, if I knew that then I wouldn't still be trying to find it, now would I? Are you sure I picked you to travel with, really?”

Jess laughed. “I'm not quite sure you had a choice, really.” She told him.

“Yeah, that doesn't sound ominous at all.” The sarcasm was heavy in his voice, making Jess roll her eyes one more time.

“Oh, what ever. Has that thing given you a reading yet?” She asked.

The Doctor looked back down at the monitor on his machine. “This way!”

He took off running so fast that Jess almost lost him. Glad she'd worn trainers today, she dodged the confused and annoyed townsfolk as she chased after the Doctor. He didn't turn around to make sure that she followed him as he ran. Her Doctor would have. Jess found herself smiling as she chased after the strange, big-eared Doctor, while she though of how tightly her Doctor would hold her hand as they chased down the bad guys.

The smile faded right off her face as the Doctor stopped in front of her. She nearly slammed right into him as she skidded to a halt.

“Look.” He told her, pointing at the machine readouts. “It's going haywire again.”

Jess bit her lip as she looked at the machine, its dials spinning in every direction. She looked up, finding that they were in the middle of a shopping district. People walked in and out of the shops, unsuspecting. Inside one large glass window, a shop keep worked to change the clothes on one of the plastic manikins.

“No...” Jess looked around. “No, I don't think the machine is broken...”

“What do you mean?” He spun around to look at her.

“Doctor, just a thought, but what if this signal you're tracing is some kind of a control signal...like a wireless remote?” She motioned with her hands as she spoke, trying to get him to follow along with her thinking. Of course, she was right. She knew the story well. Not that she knew all the details, but she was fully aware of how Autons worked.

“Like a wireless remote?” Sarcasm again, but she saw the familiar realization in his eyes. “Of course! That makes perfect sense! I've been tracking it in reverse! This isn't the source of the signal, this is where it's going!”

Jess's smile widened and she clapped her hands. The Doctor turned around, smile no longer on his face as he looked at her.

“You already knew that, though.” He told her. “I'm betting you already know what we're up against.”

“Are you suggesting that I tell you the future?” She asked him, sarcasm heavy in her own voice.

“Of course not!” He sounded offended. “Not all of it. It'd be nice to know what I'm getting myself into.”

Jess bit her lip. “My Doctor will kill me for telling you.”

“If he's me from the future, then he probably remembers this and if he hasn't gotten mad at you for it yet, then I'm sure he'll be alright with it.” The Doctor pointed out, smug grin on his face.

Jess sighed. Of course, she'd never thought that the Doctor remembered her interfering in his time line. She shook her head, unable to process that possibility just yet. Instead, she pointed to one of the manikins in the shop windows.

“Autons.” She told him. “Remote controlled living plastic.”

“Whose controlling them?” The Doctor bounced on his heels, almost excited.

“Now, remember Doctor. I wasn't actually there, so I don't know all the details. Only what you've told me... But I'll tell you everything I know right now. The Nestene Consciousness is somewhere in the city. It's controlling the autons, planning an invasion. Before you ask, no I don't know where it's hiding. No I don't now how to stop it, and no I'm not going to give you any more details.”

“Just answer one question for me, then.” he asked, looking at her seriously. “Why is this the most important day of my life?”

Jess smiled, sadly, as she reached out and gently put a hand on the Doctor's arm. “Because today you're going to meet a very important person. And she's going to change your life...forever.”

“And who's that?” He asked, giving her a goofy grin in what seemed to be an attempt to defuse the tension that for some reason seemed to surround them. “You?”

Jess laughed. “No, not me. But someone. Now come on, I'm sure there's some kind of a relay device somewhere around here, allowing the signal to reach the autons.”

“First, we need to destroy that, and then we can find the Nestene Consciousness.” The Doctor grinned and took her hand, pulling her through the street.

The search seemed to take hours. The two of them scoured every inch of the shopping district until the finally came to the last shop. Henriks, the multistory department store that Rose worked at. Jess bit her lip. She wondered how much time she had with this Doctor before she would have to leave him to go back and deal with her own.

Would he be able to find Rose, she wondered. She followed him through the store, watching as he messed with his scanner device and seemed to search through the store.

“It's here.” He told her. “It's definitely here somewhere.”

Jess nodded. “So what are you going to do about it?”

She shivered at the grin that spread wide across his face. “I'm going back to the TARDIS to get a bomb, and I'm going to blow it up.”

“You keep bombs in the TARDIS?” Jess crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him with surprise.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not really.” She glanced down at the watch on her wrist. “How long is the bomb going to take?”

The Doctor seemed to really think about it. “I should be back by the time the store closes. Of course, I'm not going to blow it up with people in it!” He spoke under his breath to her, not allowing the people nearby to hear.

Jess nodded. “That's probably best. Go. I'll stay here and see if I can locate the relay device. It definitely in this building, but it might be best to know exactly where. Don't want to blow the store up and miss the device.”

The Doctor nodded, grinned at her, and then spun to storm off. He stopped suddenly, and turned back to her. “Oh, and Jess. Thank you. You didn't have to help me, but you did anyway. Even if future me is going to get mad at you. I'll try to remember not to be too angry.” He grinned.

Jess chuckled. “Don't think on it, Doctor. Just go!”

He nodded and disappeared, leaving Jess alone in the store. She bit her lip as she started to walk around, at first she really was looking for the relay, but at some point she just started wandering around looking at clothes.

She got a fright when she turned around and came face to face with the Doctor, her Doctor. He looked at her sternly, arms crossed over his chest. “It's time that we go.”

Jess bit her lip. She could read it all in his eyes. He knew everything. Remembered everything. And he was furious.

 


	48. Chapter Forty Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been a while, but I was trying to get this right...I think this is the best it came out.   
> The Doctor is angry. Jess does something shocking. and they're off to the next adventure!

Jess stood in the control room of the TARDIS, chewing her lip as she watched the Doctor silently press buttons on the console. Silence, aside from the whooshing of the TARDIS, filled the air with a thick fog of apprehension. Her fingers twitched with the desire to reach out and touch the angry man before her, to calm his anger and put a smile once more on his face.

He swept past her with sharp movements and a scowl on his face. Her eyes followed him, lingering on his back as he pressed down the final lever. The whooshing stopped, the only indication that the TARDIS had landed. The smooth landing made Jess's stomach drop even more.

She waited for him to say something. To say anything. Instead, he stood there, his back to her and his fingers lingering on the lever. The silence carried on.

“Please say something.” her worries got the best of her.

“What do you want me to say?” He asked, his voice sounded tired, more so than it ever had before.

Jess hesitated before she spoke again. “Tell me you're not angry.”

“I thought we said I wasn't supposed to lie to you anymore.” He responded.

Jess frowned. “But you already knew, didn't you? You remembered, I know you did.”

The Doctor finally turned around to look at her, lowering his dark eyes to meet her own. His lips narrowed into a thin line before he drew his tongue along the top one and then spoke. “Do you think I really would have let you onto my TARDIS if I didn't know you? Some strange girl from some strange place who I couldn't see...talking about the Daleks and the Master and the world ending?”

“That....actually sounds exactly like something you would do.” Jess hesitated to respond, but couldn't stop the small chuckle that fell from her lips as she looked up at the Doctor.

She watched his lips quiver. Watched as he tried his hardest not to smile. He failed, and the smile burst out onto his face. It faded as quick as it came as he reached out to her, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

“Jess.” He almost whispered her name. “You changed everything, you know that, right?” He stepped away from her, walking around the console to look up at the monitor. It showed a blank blue screen with white circular patterns swirling around it. “If it weren't for you, I never would have met...your mum.”

Jess flinched when he tripped over Rose's name. She could hear the hurt fresh in his voice.

“I looked for you after that, you know.” The Doctor had once more started walking around the console, his back to Jess. He would not, could not, look at her. “After I left...her. Did she ever tell you that? The first time I asked her to come with me, she said no.” He glanced back at Jess to see her reaction.

She leaned against the railing and stared at her feet, listening to the story, chewing her lip.

“I went back to look for you. Searched, nearly three months I looked for you.” He turned back to Jess once more, sweeping the distance between them until he stood inches in front of her. “I wanted you to come with me, but I never saw you again after that. I guess I should have known that I wouldn't. Not until much later. I was such an optimist back then.” His lips turned up in a half smile.

“Doctor...” Jess pushed away from the railing and looked up at him, pleading in her eyes but for what she didn't know.

He spoke on, ignoring her call. “When I finally gave up looking, I went back for Rose. Just seconds after I left her the first time. I told her about that, actually. Years later. When I was the last me. She was mad at me for a long time, because the reason I'd decided to go back for her...well, that's not important anymore.”

“Doctor.” Jess bit her lip, taking him by the lapels of his coat and tugging him back towards her as he tried to step away. “You knew, you knew everything and you still let me come with you.”

His fingers wrapped around hers gently. She could feel the tremble in his fingers as he pulled her hands from his coat, turned them over in his own, and ran his fingers over the lines on her palms. She watched his hands with intense concentration and tried to ignore the warmth bubbling up inside her chest.

“If you would have just told me that I couldn't come with you...”

“I never would have met Rose.” The Doctor finished her sentence for her, however she was going to end it. “Then I never would have lost her. You never would have been born. Rose would be safe somewhere in London married to Mickey and I wouldn't be who I am today.”

“You wouldn't be in so much pain...” Jess finished her own sentence.

The Doctor laughed, a soft and bitter sound. His fingers left her hands, leaving cold in their wake. Jess barely resisted reaching out to pull her back to him. It was so rare that they had moments like that, she relished in his warmth.

“I would not trade a single moment with Rose...not anything.” He told Jess. “I would not give her up for anything. The pain and the good. The tears and the hurt...” He turned once more and looked at Jess. “She reminded me so much of you, did you know? She almost hated me when I told her that.” He laughed, eyes glazed with the distant memory.

“I didn't.” Jess responded, watching as the Doctor dropped down into the jump seat, resting his elbows against his knees. His chin fell smoothly into his interlaced fingers.

He looked up at Jess through soft eyes, a gentle smile on his face. “We had gone to the Planet of the Purple Spires. You know the one, where everything shimmers in shades of purple against the scarlet sky.”

“And the waters below the city are so clear and blue it looks as if you're floating in mid-air.” Jess smiled, recalling the planet she had once been to, in her own dimension, as she sat down next to the Doctor, their knees barely touching.

He nodded, smiling at her before he continued. “We had gone to a party. I'd been invited by the Chancellor to his daughter's birthday party. Anyway, Rose had convinced me to play one of their silly party games. Like truth or dare on Earth...”

“The one with the serum?” Jess interrupted. “The truth potion stuff, even if you wanted to, you couldn't lie.” She chuckled. “That stuff got me in trouble a few times too.”

“Yeah.” The Doctor grinned, turning into Jess as he spoke, as if he didn't even realize he were doing it. “And Rose decided to ask me why I'd decided to bring her along with me when we'd first met....This was after I had regenerated, mind. And I'd already taken the serum, so I had no choice. Couldn't keep skirting around it. Of course, I knew she'd get upset when I told her...it was because she reminded me so much of you...”

Jess chuckled as the Doctor's words trailed off. “Well, she is my mum.”

The Doctor looked down at his fingers, thoughtful smile playing at his lips. “Yeah...her daughter...”

Jess's smile faded. “Does it really bother you that much, Doctor?”

The expression he turned to her made her immediately regret asking. The confusion and the fear and the pain he tried to hide behind his eyes had never been more evident.

“You know.” She found herself saying the words, without really knowing why. “I'm not her, Doctor. I'm not Rose.”

“I know that.” The Doctor snapped, paused, then sighed. “You are a wonderful person, Jess. Really, you are. You are so much like your mother, but you're right.” He stood up, then looked down at her with a resigned sadness. “You're not Rose. And you never will be.”

Jess's hand shot out, wrapping around the Doctor's wrist and stopping him as he turned to walk away again. “Just because I'm not her...doesn't mean you can't love me too...”

She watched the back of his head, unable to see his face, to read the expression that the words put on his face. She wondered if it made his hearts pound as hard as her did at the words.

He pulled his wrist from her hand, walking once more to the console of the TARDIS. He twisted a dial, one that didn't really do anything. He walked around to the other side of it while Jess watched him silently, wishing that he would give her any kind of response.

He looked at her from across the console, his hands flying on buttons as a smile formed on his face. He met her eyes. “Want to go see the three moons of Conastor? I'll let you drive.”

Jess grinned. For now, that would probably be the best answer she would get. Her feet moved her to the console beside the Doctor without her even seeming to tell them to and she began to press buttons and flip switches with an expert ease.

The TARDIS shook violently once as it took off into the vortex. The Doctor wrapped an arm around Jess to keep her standing, grinning at her as they held onto anything they could get a grip on. The TARDIS whooshed into the time vortex, taking the two on their next adventure.

 


	49. Chapter Forty Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a while, but here's another chapter. You knew it was coming. but just hold on the the seat of your pants because we're about to go on a wild ride :D

The TARDIS careened through the Time Vortex, bouncing around and spinning violently. Inside, the two passengers squealed with delight. Jess wrapped her hands tight around the console, holding herself up as best she could while she ran around smashing buttons and telling the machine where it needed to go.

The Doctor had given up trying to stay near the console and let his grip on it slip. He fell to the ground and slid to the railing, wrapping his arms around it before he fell off the platform itself, one leg dangling over it.

“I told you I'd let you drive!” He yelled over the ringing of the cloister bell, a smile on his face and not sounding one bit angry.

“I am driving!” Jess snapped back, flipping down another switch. The TARDIS shook and the alarm started blaring at an even faster pace. Jess slipped, barely holding herself up.

“No!” The Doctor's grip had tightened as he nearly fell off the platform. “You're crashing!”

Jess laughed, nearly losing her grip as she let go of the panel to spin a dial. The TARDIS stuttered, as if it had just been thrown suddenly into reverse with its gears clicking.

“Oi!” The Doctor yelled, pulling himself up off the ground unsteadily. “I thought you knew how to fly!”

“I do!” Jess shot back, pulling a large lever. The clicking stopped and the shaking simmered down enough to allow them to stand. “I learned from the best, remember?”

His smile faltered for just the smallest bit before the TARDIS gave one more crashing jolt and both of them lost their grips. The Doctor slipped right off the edge of the platform, grabbing onto the railing just in time to keep from toppling to the ground below. Jess hit the floor and skidded to the stairs, catching the dangling belt strap of the jump seat to keep her from flying over the edge of the steps.

They both held on tight as the TARDIS came to a halt, the alarm stopping and the lights returning to normal. Jess laughed, pulling herself back upright and looking to the Doctor. He had already hoisted himself up and was climbing back over the railing.

“Alright.” He told her, straightening his jacket and his bow tie. “That's the last time I ever let you drive.”

“Oh, you know you had fun.” Jess grinned up at him.

He tried hard not to return the grin, but the corners of his mouth betrayed him and he found himself laughing along with Jess. He walked to the console, checking the TARDIS's monitors.

Jess skipped over beside him, leaning innocently over the controls to look at his face. “I told you that I knew how to fly her. She's perfectly alright.”

The Doctor nodded. “But we're no where near the three moons of Conastor.”

“Nope.” Jess grinned as she took off her jacket and threw it on the jump seat. “But I wasn't trying to get to Conastor.”

“Then where were you trying to get?” The Doctor asked, his eyes raking over her. She had picked a deep red tank top that didn't do much to cover her stomach and some low-rise jeans, and the Doctor would not admit that she looked really good.

Jess leaned against the door of the TARDIS, smirking at him. “We're in Egypt.”

At this, the Doctor grinned. “Ah! Brilliant! Always wanted to go to Egypt.”

Jess laughed a bit. “Well, what are you waiting for then?” She pushed the door open and the two of them stepped out into the hot desert sun.

The Doctor looked around, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. He squinted into the distance. “When you said Egypt, I thought you meant a city...or a pyramid..or something.”

“But...” Jess pouted. “But there should be something here!” Jess darted back into the TARDIS and tapped out something on the keyboard. The TARDIS gave a hum and a ding and Jess turned around to face the Doctor standing in the doorway.

“Well?” He asked, arms crossed over his chest.

“I landed in exactly the right place. There should be something here.”

The Doctor grinned deviously, leaning out the door and looking around. “I don't see anything.”

Jess glared, jumping over the stairs and right down in front of the Doctor. “Don't patronize me, Doctor. I'm not wrong.”

“I'm not patronizing.” The Doctor held his hands up, stepping backwards out of the TARDIS doors.

Jess followed him, watching as he looked around, hand above his brow to block the sun. She thought about responding to his comment, but instead said nothing as a gust of wind blew up a bit of sand around them.

“Let's go this way.” The Doctor pointed off into the distance, past some sand dunes.

“Why that way?” Jess asked.

The Doctor shrugged. “I have a good feeling about that way.”

“That way it is.” Jess grinned, slipping her arm around his.

They walked for hours, talking about nothing as they walked. Jess forced them to stop after a while, just to sit and empty the sand from her shoes. She took a swig from the canteen the Doctor procured from his pocket and handed it back to him. He took a swig himself.

“Nothing like some nice, fresh water in the middle of a hot desert.” He responded, tucking the bottle back into his pocket.

Jess looked back to where they'd come, a long train of footprints, side by side, leading over huge hills into the distance. The TARDIS wasn't even in view anymore. Then she turned and looked the other way, standing up and pushing her way to the top of the hill. “Look! Out there, we finally made it!”

The Doctor followed her, looking over the peak of the dune. The sunlight glistened off the sea in the distance, way beyond reach. Between them and the sea sat a city. The city that should have been ten miles away, over the huge mountains of sand.

“Well, now that's more like it!” The Doctor grinned, taking Jess's hand as he started down the other side of the giant hill. “Not in the right place, but still. Better than nothing.”

Jess frowned at the Doctor, stumbling as she followed him down the steep, sandy slope. “But doesn't that seem a bit odd to you, Doctor?”

“What?” He slid the last ten feet down the slope, digging his booted feet from beneath the piles of sand he gathered. Jess fumbled to keep from falling into him until they got back on flat ground.

“I took history class, Doctor. I went on an expedition with my history professor in college, the third time round.” Jess pointed out. “And the ruins of this city weren't way out here. They were right where we landed.”

“You're right.” The Doctor responded, taking out his sonic and messing with it as he continued to walk towards the city. “By my calculations, we should have landed right in the middle of the city square. Something's gone wrong.”

“And we're going to figure out what went wrong, aren't we?” Jess asked, her voice sounded dejected but the smile in her eyes exposed her excitement.

The Doctor simply smiled back at her, saying nothing.

They walked into the gates of the town hand in hand, grinning at some joke the Doctor had told to pass the time as they walked. They ignored the looks others gave them as they walked in, wearing their obviously different clothing, walking their obviously different walk.

“Well, if we're going to figure something out, where should we start?” Jess asked.

She turned her head to look at the man walking beside her, grinning at the way he looked around at everything. “First, we're going to find something to eat.”

“Agreed.” Jess grinned, her stomach rumbling audibly as she spoke, making them both laugh as they turned into the market.

 


	50. Chapter Fifty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's another chapter! I know they've been short lately. Don't worry though, there's still ALOT more story left to go before we finally reach the end! But the next few bits are going to be alot of fun for you guys, I'm sure.

Jess watched quietly as the Doctor peered around a corner, holding one finger up in signal for her to be entirely quiet. They had found themselves deep in the bowels of the palace walls. It had all been a very curious chain of events that lead them here in the first place. But didn't it always, Jess thought with a smile as she followed him down another turn.

It had started with a man whispering into a vase of water. That wasn't the strange part though. It was that the water _whispered back_. And of course, Jess had to talk about this with the Doctor. That led to a full scale investigation that had lead them into the palace. 

Jess nearly fell into the Doctor as he stopped up suddenly. His arm slipped around her waist to hold her back and she grabbed onto his arm. She shot him a glance and he grinned back at her, placing a finger over his lips. 

The guards they followed turned one more corridor and started down what sounded like a staircase. 

“They're going to the dungeons.” The Doctor whispered, letting go of Jess and tip toeing to the passage the men disappeared down. 

“Should we follow?” Jess asked, amusement in her voice. 

The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows and started off down the stairs with Jess in tow. She jumped the last two to find themselves in a great underground cavern. Crates, boxes, and large clay canisters – some larger than Jess – filled the space. 

The Doctor gestured her to follow him and crept stealthily along the outer line of room, wedging themselves between the wall and the boxes as he searched for an easy place to observe without being seen. 

The spot they found was next to a large box and an open jar, wide around as Jess was tall with a spout on one end and water flowing into it through a pipe in the wall. The water poured out of the spout and into another receptacle that lead to an open pipe flowing into a well in the center of the room. 

It was around this well that the two men met with a woman. She dressed similar to the men, golden breastplate over her chest and plates of armor protecting her arms and legs. The rest of her covered in white. She was tall, thin, and strong. 

“I know that woman.” The Doctor whispered, his face close enough that his breath hit against the skin of Jess's neck. 

“Who is she?” Jess whispered back, watching as the woman spoke to both of the men. 

“Tuya is her name.” The Doctor whispered. 

Jess chewed her lip. The name sounded familiar, like something she vaguely recalled. They watched the men hand over a vase to the woman and she turned so that Jess could catch a glimpse of her face. That was when she caught it. She remembered. 

“The mother of King Ramses II?” Jess whispered back to the Doctor, looking on at the woman in awe. 

The Doctor grinned and nodded. “Now shush, I need to hear what they're saying.”

Jess nodded and kept quiet, straining to hear what the woman said. 

“I can trust that everything is in order.” She spoke softly, peering down into the vase she'd been handed. “Our Masters will be pleased to find that everything is according to their plan.”

Jess and the Doctor watched on as the two men bowed to the woman and exited back up through the stairs from where they came. Tuya turned, the gold bangles on her outfit jingling, and she emptied the contents of the vase into the well. 

The ripples ceased and the surface turned a glassy sheen. 

“My Mistress.” Tuya dropped to her knees. “Praise be to the goddess Anqet.”

“My child.” A soft voice came from the surface of the water, like the chimes of a bell and the hiss of a snake rolled into one voice. “How come the preparations?”

“All is well, Mistress.” Tuya spoke. “Come three days from now, the great storm you have prophesied will come.”

“And the machines are all in place?” The voice rang out again. 

Once more Tuya nodded. 

A ripple resounded through the stillness of the water, and a hand suddenly reached up out of it, followed by another, and arms, a head, torso. The body of a woman, made entirely of water, appeared out of the mirror of water. 

Jess gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth in hopes that the sound was not too loud. She glanced at the Doctor, who kept an eye on Tuya and the water woman. He gave her a reassuring smile when neither noticed. 

“This is an odd turn of events.” The Doctor whispered as he listened to the two speak. 

He pulled out his sonic, but Jess snatched it from his hand, shaking her head and mouthing 'too loud.'

The Doctor pouted, but he waited for Tuya to finish speaking and the water woman disappeared back into the pool. Tuya turned and left. The Doctor motioned Jess to make her way back to the door, but as they passed in front of the stairs, the voice called out of the water again. 

“You are not of Earth. Either of you. Why do you come to spy upon the resting place of the goddess Anqet?”

 


End file.
